Insidious has been stuck on the prequel path for its last couple entries focusing on Lin Shaye’s Elise Rainer and her previous encounters with supernatural threats from the Further. Now though, the franchise brings the spotlight back onto the Lambert family with Insidious: The Red Door to give them a fulfilling and scary, yet faulty “trilogy-ender” that Insidious fans will undoubtedly enjoy.

While The Red Door might be the fifth Insidious film, it instantly establishes itself more as a true Insidious 3 with how it continues the story of the Lambert family. The film takes place nine years after both Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) have their memories suppressed to forget about the horrors of the Further. However, they’re unable to keep the past at bay forever and a dark presence starts to loom over them that reconnects them to the Further. So, these two must try to understand the past they’ve forgotten so that they can close the door on the Further for good.

What makes The Red Door stand out as a true “trilogy-ender” for the Lambert family is how it genuinely feels like a celebration for fans of the franchise. There are a lot of fun cameos and nods to past films that fans will love – including a surprising moment with Elise – and they add a lot more emotion to the already tender-feeling story between Josh and Dalton. The atmosphere feels right at home with this franchise and is more a return to form when it comes to the scares and horror of the original films. Plus, there’s something very special about seeing the original cast return roughly ten years later and the cherry on top of this film being a celebration for the franchise is undoubtedly Wilson making his directorial debut with The Red Door.

With Wilson at the helm, The Red Door makes the Lambert family’s return even more meaningful and the story arc surrounding Josh and Dalton’s fraught relationship as well as them reconnecting to the Further is honestly pretty great at times – even with the opening being a little rough. Truthfully, there just needed to be more in the opening that gives viewers context as to what the Lamberts have been going through since Chapter 2. Most of the time, viewers are just thrown into family and personal conflicts awkwardly without really understanding how they got there. This leads to some reactions from characters being a little jarring and some of the early story not connecting smoothly.

Still, the story manages to get some emotional hooks into viewers through Josh and Dalton’s individual struggles as well as their dissolved relationship. It’s really compelling at times to see these two try to connect with a past that’s been suppressed for them and make horrifying discoveries that change their perspective on everything. There are some very intriguing moments of these two rediscovering the Further and their abilities to astral project. It’s also fun to see their individual storylines crossover and connect throughout – ultimately coming together by the end. Also, there are some surprisingly deep moments to their divided relationship and one scene of Josh showing his emotions that unexpectedly cuts deep. Josh, in general, has some really strong emotional moments and Wilson puts in a great performance that shouldn’t go unrecognized.

Unfortunately, The Red Door suffers from some messy storytelling throughout and half-baked elements that drag the experience down. While the story has a decently clear direction throughout, there are some moments and decisions by characters that lead to nothing and waste time for scares. The focus on Josh and Dalton feels fitting given how tied to the Further they are, but it’s a shame that the other members of the Lambert family don’t have much of a purpose in the story. There’s a new character named Chris (Sinclair Daniel) who can be incredibly jarring at first because of her high energy and tough to handle personality – to the point where she’s super distracting. As she grows closer to Dalton and melds into the plot better, she becomes much more likeable and interesting, but she’s just one of the many mishandled characters in this story.

For what The Red Door lacks in story at times though, it makes up for it in some great scares. Wilson shows some fantastic skills at stringing out suspense to lead to effective jump scares. Seriously, there are some scares that’ll really catch viewers off guard and keep them fearfully squirming in their seats. Also, it’s worth noting that even with a small budget the film manages to have some creepy ghost designs that help elevate the horror atmosphere. Plus, there’s nothing like seeing an old red-faced enemy return to terrorize fans again.

The film’s climactic ending in the Further might be a little underwhelming and sudden, but Wilson’s solid efforts throughout shouldn’t be ignored. Wilson’s direction here should honestly impress horror fans enough to want to see him return to the genre – maybe even to direct that Crooked Man spin-off in The Conjuring Universe that’s been through development hell. Not to mention, even for the lackluster ending in the Further, the film makes up for it through a very heartfelt ending with Josh that fans will love and a killer track from Ghost and Wilson that plays during the credits that’s totally worth staying for.

The Red Door might feature some weaknesses in its story and characters at times that keep the franchise from reaching new heights, but fans will certainly love what they get with it. Insidious’ fifth entry manages to give fans a celebratory effort of scares that are easy love and acts as a good showing for Wilson as a director as he helms a likeable and tender ending to the Lambert family’s run in this franchise.

Watch the Trailer Here: