Insidious: The Red Door (English) Review {2.0/5} & Review Rating
INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR is the story of a father and son fighting demons from the past. After the events of the second part, Josh (Patrick Wilson) decides to wipe out his and his son Dalton's (Ty Simpkins) memories, involving the encounter with evil spirits, with the help of Carl (Steve Coulter). Nine years pass. Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) passes away. He has divorced his wife Renai (Rose Byrne). Due to the memory wipe-out, he is suffering from brain fog, causing a distance between him and Dalton. He tries to reconcile with his son by dropping him off at his university. However, it doesn't work out. Dalton is also struggling as he's been told that he was in a coma for a year due to meningitis fever and that’s why he doesn’t have the memory for that period. He is suspicious that it is not the case. Suddenly one day, both Dalton and Josh start having scary visuals. Since they can't recollect their experiences nine` years ago, they are unable to understand what's happening to them. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems' story is nothing new. Scott Teems’ screenplay is not up to the mark. The writers have tried to add some interesting scenes and have a novel setup. But the horror element is limited and not as exciting as seen in the previous parts. The dialogues are fine.
Patrick Wilson's direction is average. The film has some genuinely scary jump scares, but they are few and far between. The biggest issue, however, is that the first four films had very memorable characters. Sadly, they are hardly there in the fifth and final part. The new characters don't excite the viewers as much. What's also unfortunate is that some of them could have given an interesting touch to the narrative.
The actors, however, try their best to go beyond the script. Patrick Wilson disappoints as a director but is quite good as an actor. Ty Simpkins essays a challenging character with ease. Sinclair Daniel (Chris Winslow) is quite entertaining. Rose Byrne doesn't have much to do. Andrew Astor (Foster; Dalton’s brother) is okay in a cameo. Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell (Specs) and Angus Sampson (Tucker) are wasted. Peter Dager (Nick) is fine. Hiam Abbass (Professor Armagan) has a superb entry scene but doesn’t have substantial to do later on.
Joseph Bishara's music manages to up the scare quotient. Autumn Eakin's cinematography is appropriate. Adam Reamer's production design is neat. Dajia Milan’s costumes are realistic. VFX is first-rate. Derek Ambrosi's editing is fair.
On the whole, INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR is a pointless sequel. It had a decent start at the late-night previews but will struggle to find takers due to competition next week from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE and also because this franchise has never been huge in India.
