Josh Lambert heads east to drop his son, Dalton, off at school. However, Dalton’s college dream soon becomes a living nightmare when the repressed demons of his past suddenly return to haunt them both.
Synopsis
Insidious has been a franchise growing and expanding its cinematic universe since 2010, that’s a very long time. Unfortunately, for the franchise it had a masterpiece right out of the gate. That’s hard for any other chapter or sequel to compete with. Insidious: The Red Door is looking to capture the suspense and thrills of the first two chapters, bringing back the Lambert family to give us the proper sendoff that the fans and franchise deserve. Patrick Wilson takes center stage in the directors chair this time taking over from the likes of James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence, Death Sentence) and Leigh Whannell (Upgrade and The Invisible Man) a lot is on Patrick Wilson’s shoulders here, but you could hardly tell the way his visual style, makes you think this is third movie he’s directed. We’re first introduced to the Lambert’s family here at the funeral of Lorraine Lambert (Barbara Hershey). The atmosphere built up in that opening scene is full of dread to let us know this is going to a tight grip on us emotionally throughout the film.
The film starts to pick up when we’re in Dalton Lambert’s painting class, where his teacher tells the class to close their eyes and go deep into the repressed memories in their subconscious that tells us who they are. Then as Dalton (Ty Simpkins) begins to frantically draw on the canvas sporadically we see what appears to be a door, that nearly gives Dalton a panic attack in the middle of class we see him open his eyes at a black door as an entity grabs his hand and cuts his hand as well. It’s a well-done scene directed by Patrick Wilson that is reminiscent of the best jump scares of the franchise done by James Wan. Since that moment in class, Dalton remembers bits and pieces of when he was ten years old. A year of memories repressed by Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). Insidious: The Red Door also acts as a buddy movie with Dalton’s roommate Chris (Sinclair Daniel) who gives us an authentic performance as were convinced she cares deeply about what is happening to Dalton, after they just first met that same day.
The moments that Ty Simpkins and Patrick Wilson spend in the further are marvelous to watch as the tension builds up so fast, you could hear the sound of pin drop in the theater whenever you see the fog that comes out right before their become astral projections versions of themselves, the sound design for those sequences are masterful as we’re brought in with the two characters that nearly feels as an immersive experience. The best part of Insidious: The Red Door is when we see Josh Lambert trying to figure out his past. Doing anything necessary, even going to get an MRI done on his brain and doing memory cards on his front window which gives us another excellent jump scare.
While, Insidious: The Red Door doesn’t surpass the original masterpiece in any way shape or form. It does offer us some great moments that make it better than most of the sequels that came out before it. The performances by its main cast are top notch including Ty Simpkins and Patrick Wilson who both command the screen. Patrick Wilson makes a formidable directorial debut which should lead to more projects.
Overall Grade: 3/5 Stars
