INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER -- Dive Deeper into The Further

Review by Steve Barton II

When James Wan first busted into the horror movie world, the state of the genre was less than ideal. The mainstream studio movies were mostly remakes of popular 80s icons or imitations of Scream with no originality. After the global success of Wan’s feature debut Saw, James had free reign to make more original films and he birthed two more huge franchises. In collaboration with longtime friend Leigh Whannell, they created The Conjuring universe and Dead Silence, but Insidious is the one that has created nightmares for over a decade. The first Insidious film burst into theaters in 2010 taking in over $100 million and each sequel continues to hit and overtake that benchmark. Many people thought the series would’ve ended completely with Insidious: The Red Door in 2023 with the completion of the Lambert family story, but The Further had other plans. Insidious: Out of The Further picks up several years after the events of The Red Door with Gemma (Amelia Eve) as a single mother raising her daughter in her family home where tragedy struck her as a child. As Gemma learns more about her past and present, she finds she can travel to The Further and bring things back over to the world of the living and the demons know too.

If there’s one thing the Insidious series can do without failure is scare the wits out of you without drenching the screen in blood and guts. Using clever sound and set design, great camera work and strong directing made this a thrilling experience that’s akin to a haunted house POV walkthrough. While real jump scares are still present and rudely effective, the best scares are when the scary thing is in the background out of focus and the character has no idea. The tension that builds when you cut around and they’re gone gives you temporary relief, then immediate paranoia. While the scares do come in the normal settings like the family home or a dentist office, The Further is the star of the show. When the smoke covers the floors and the haze fills the room, the surreal nightmare begins and it almost feels like you could see Freddy Krueger in his boiler room if you made a wrong turn. We do see several familiar faces from previous Insidious installments, the new demon star Cyrus takes center stage. With his long hair and slender demeanor, his approach to possession is more like Dracula with intoxicating energy and quiet whispers of violence. He’s certainly nowhere near the scariest or creepiest of the franchise, but he’s an interesting addition to The Further team.

One aspect that felt very out of place were the several comedic beats during Insidious: Out of The Further. In the past, Specs and Tucker were mainly the only comedic relief, but it wasn’t too much where it became distracting. Brandon Perea as Officer Nick steps into their role as Gemma’s boyfriend, but several other characters decide they have jokes too. While comedy and horror share many qualities and comedic relief is necessary to rebuild tension, Out of The Further can’t decide who is the funny one when in reality, only Brandon is. There’s even a mid-credit scene in The Further that is awkwardly played for laughs (and no one in my theater did) and it fully captures the awkward tone that director Jacob Chase must’ve been shooting for. They also fall into the overused trope of “old people are scary” with nothing new or creative to say. While these particular elderly actors do strike fear in you from their makeup and performances, they still don’t come remotely close to being as scary as any of the demons from The Further. 

In full, Insidious: Out of The Further does keep the overall feel of Insidious, but it’s nowhere near the spooky level of the original. While we don’t have the Lambert family anymore, we still have the incredible Elise Rainer played masterfully by the legendary Lin Shaye. Even into her 80s, Lin brings an energy to Elise that is motherly and intimidating and it makes her a wonderful spirit guide for our protagonist. Out of The Further, while not having the most original plot, it does display a child dealing with an addict parent very accurately through demonic possession. Everything from the loss of time and the home literally decaying from neglect helped build the world and the sadness our main characters live in. In the end, if you’re a fan of the Insidious universe and want to venture deeper into The Further, go check out Insidious: Out of The Further today! 

Insidious: Out of The Further is spooking up theaters starting August 21st! 

Rating: 3/5