Insidious: The Red Door
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (out of 5)
Insidious: The Red Door is the fifth instalment in the well-known series of movies which centre around the Lambert family where father Josh and eldest son Dalton can project themselves astrally into a dimension named ‘The Further’, which exposes themselves to deadly interactions with demonic entities. Horror fans were first introduced to ‘Insidious’ in 2010 by famed Australian horror film-makers Leigh Whannell and James Wan (best known for their work on the ‘Saw’ series of films). A sequel was released in 2013, but the following two films were produced as sequels. This latest release is essentially a third to the story of Josh and Dalton and picks up nine years later.
This latest release is a third to the story of this father and son picks up nine years later. Ty Simpkins (of ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ fame) reprises his role as Dalton, now 19 and starting college as an art student. Patrick Wilson returns as Josh, but the entire family relationship has changed due to the effects of hypnotism as a method of suppressing the abilities of this family pair to revisit The Further. In Josh’s case, it has led to divorce and estrangement from his children (in particular Dalton) and a feeling of being confused and muddled, so he attempts to try and find out if there is a medical issue that might explain what is happening to him.
Meanwhile Dalton is encouraged to access his memories to try and find inspiration for his artwork but unwittingly regains his ability to visit this other dimension and produces a drawing that features a red door. As he continues to access his memories, further details are added to his painting until he realizes what happened when he was ten years old and first exposed to this realm. Simultaneously, Josh starts piecing together clues about what happened in the past and discovers that he and his father are not the only ones in his family with the ability of astral projection. The conclusion sees the father and son reunite to see if they can prevent the horrors behind the red door from escaping into the human realm.
Interestingly, this latest chapter is not the work of Leigh Whannell or James Wan – the script is written by Scott Teems, although Leigh did assist in the story. Patrick Wilson makes his directorial debut and also shows off his vocal ability by singing the song played over the closing credits. One might question whether it was necessary to revisit the story of the Lamberts. Still, the film is put together well, bringing the whole saga of The Further to an end for the Lamberts. Yet, nothing is ever definite regarding horror film franchises, so watch out for another sequel to appear in the not-too-distant future. Fans of the ‘Insidious’ series should enjoy this latest addition; even though it does not go to the extreme of the horror scale since it is tamer compared to recent films within this genre.
REEL DIALOGUE: The Great Redemption
For those who have seen the earlier ‘Insidious’ movies (namely the first two), it is no spoiler to say that Josh ends up being a threat to his own family when possessed by an evil spirit after his visit to The Further. Fortunately, the Lambert family is saved but not without traumatising his wife and children. The resultant hypnosis of father and son was an attempt to stop them from accessing this cosmic realm. Still, it also meant that the traumatic events were erased from their memory along with any realisation for Josh about how close he was to harm his family. In this latest chapter, Josh manages to uncover the truth and also commits himself to do anything within his power to save his boy and keep his family safe from the menace of the demonic entity that hides behind the red door. This redemptive act brings the family together and restores the relationship between these two family members.
Interestingly, the most extraordinary story of redemption can be found in the Bible. Except when it is revealed that Jesus came into the world to save mankind from the power of sin and death to restore people back to a loving relationship with God. For those who would like to know how to enter into a right relationship with God, a great place to start is to read one of the Gospel accounts that tell us about Jesus’ life and why he came into the world to do what he did.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
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