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Insidious, we meet again. For the sixth time, in fact. It’s become one of the world’s biggest horror franchises but the new horror movie is making me question whether or not it needs to carry on at all.
I should preface this largely negative review by saying that I was a huge fan of the first Insidious movie, and have been a fan of James Wan’s ever since Saw. So it truly does pain me to say I did not have a good time with Insidious: Out of the Further, because I went in hoping to see an intriguing new entry, but what followed was almost entirely predictable.
Recently, we have seen some good horror sequels. Take a look at Saw X for example, which is infinitely better than some of the movies that came before it (I still can’t get over how bad Jigsaw is). But Insidious: Out of the Further feels like a way to profit from the popular franchise without really adding much to it.
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It’s a shame, because it did have potential. Here, Alice Eve plays Gemma, a young mother who is raising her daughter in her childhood home. She lives a normal life until she discovers she can travel into The Further, which is a purgatorial realm of lost souls. Gemma realizes she can bring what lives in The Further back to the real world, which is great news for demonic entities who use Gemma to their full advantage. Cue carnage unfolding in our realm, and plenty of evil round the corner.
I first saw Alice Eve in Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, and she is undoubtedly the best thing about Insidious: Out of the Further. As a new arrival to the Insidious franchise she’s front and center of this sequel, and does a great job in the role.
Unfortunately, Eve’s strong performance can’t make up for the movie’s many flaws. Insidious: Out of the Further is the scariest of the franchise due to the sheer number of jump scares, many of which have extremely loud audio to go along with it.
But the fact it was able to make me jump in my seat multiple times does not make it a good movie. The special effects and makeup feel really off, and not at all on the same level as previous movies. A lot of the narrative decisions frustrated me too, and I think it tries to take itself too seriously by stuffing loads of new lore into its runtime, making it feel bloated.
It’s essential to see the other Insidious movies first, which may seem obvious, but I would encourage you to rewatch (or at least read up on them) before you go and see Insidious: Out of the Further, otherwise you might end up feeling lost. This really is for die-hard Insidious fans who know their stuff, so casual fans might be left scratching their heads.
Insidious: Out of the Further does not come close to the quality we’ve seen in a wave of recent great horror movies. It pales in comparison to fresh horror hits like Obsession and Backrooms, despite the fact the trailer repeatedly reminds us that it’s produced by the same people; Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.
Having said that, if you want to go just to be startled by a carousel of jump scares, it’s a great choice. I’d recommend this for those who want to test their nerve, and it’s best seen with a crowd for this reason. I would advise against buying any popcorn in case you throw it all over yourself, because the scares are certainly in abundance here.
But it’s not a necessary addition to the Insidious franchise at all, and doesn’t live up to the 2010 movie that started it all. After 16 years, perhaps it’s time to put this franchise to bed for good.
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