Insidious: Out Of The Further Review: The Sixth Entry Supplies A Simple Story But Scream-Worthy Scares

James Wan and Leigh Whannell are responsible for reshaping the horror genre with 2004's "Saw," but I'd argue that their most brilliant concoction is The Further from the "Insidious" movies. A vast, dark, and empty dimension between Heaven, Earth, and Hell that often imitates the waking world, The Further is a playground for telling a variety of different ghost stories, affording the fine folks at Blumhouse and Atomic Monster the ability to keep making "Insidious" films until the wheels fall off. Most believed the franchise had come to a close after 2023's "Insidious: The Red Door" put to rest the story of the Lambert Family from the first two "Insidious" movies (the movie's ridiculous box office success certainly changed that), but three years later, the newest entry from "Come Play" writer/director Jacob Chase proves there's still some blood left in the haunted stone worth squeezing.

This new film follows Gemma (Amelia Eve), a single mom raising her daughter Maya (Island Austin) in her childhood home — one that harbors deep-seated trauma from her own childhood with her seemingly mentally unwell single mother, Ingrid (Laura Gordon). But when Gemma is plagued by horrifying visions that seem all too real, and her behavior begins to eerily resemble that of her mom, she discovers that not only is she traveling into the Further but that she is a Courier, i.e. someone who can bring things from the land of the living and things from the Further into the real world. So, given the desperation the undead have for wanting to get out of the Further, Gemma joins forces with the spirit of Elise Rainier (the iconic Lin Shaye) to ensure the dead don't escape their purgatorial realm.

Somehow, the result is the best PG-13 horror film of the year (so far).

The "Insidious" films have always been family stories, and "Insidious: Out of the Further" is no different. Gemma's fears about the Further run with the same intensity as her fears of becoming her mother and traumatizing her daughter, and even when some of the story elements about their relationship lean a little too far into the saccharine, it's a schmaltzy mother-daughter story I'm an easy mark to give myself over to. Stories of generational trauma have been a hot trend across all genres for the last five or so years, so the familial story beats are admittedly a bit predictable. Fortunately, Amelia Eve throws herself completely into playing Gemma, channeling the same emotional complexity found in Naomi Watts' run of horror films in the 2000s.

And like the "Insidious" demons that came before (the Lipstick-Face Demon, The Bride in Black, The Woman in White, The Man Who Can't Breathe, and Keyface), "Insidious: Out of the Further" has a new baddie in the form of Cyrus, who represents almost the inverse of Elise — someone who existed in the real world and understands the power of the Further yet wants to use it for evil. He's significantly more talkative than the entities in this franchise's previous films, which is a bold swing that doesn't always work, but it made me excited for the possible (red) doors the property could open with this new direction now established. Give the "Insidious" movies their own Freddy Krueger, you cowards!

That brings me to the most pleasant surprise of the film — "Insidious: Out of the Further" is genuinely funny. And I'm not talking about comedic relief like what Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell) provided in earlier films. I mean the movie is loaded with genuinely funny moments in the fabric of the story, including callbacks to jokes made earlier in the film! Brandon Perea's facial expressions as Gemma's cop boyfriend Nick pulled out a few giggles out of me, and tattoo artist/medium Clare (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), who helps connect Gemma with Elise in the Further (she's been dead since 2011, remember?), has a running bit with a grapefruit that is so ridiculously silly that I relented and allowed myself to be charmed by it.

What made the "Insidious" films so popular is that they walk the line between fun and frightening, with the trademark jump scares becoming almost an endurance challenge for audiences. People come to these movies because they know something is going to scare the crap out of them, and they want that feeling. So, having a script that's on the same wavelength as what the audience is chasing is a real treat. Sure, some of the humor and story elements are a little corny, but I was born on the cob and cannot be bothered by pedantic criticisms I could make when I'm too busy having a good time.

When Gemma isn't being a single mom terrorized by the undead or her own traumatic memories, she's a dental hygienist, and the movie has no problem picking at your worst dental fears. Some of these scenes are nasty enough to make you want to crawl out of your skin, and anyone with a reflexive aversion to the sound of a dental drill (or hates gross-out ASMR videos of plaque being scraped from teeth) is going to have a very bad time.

As is the case with every "Insidious" film, the use of darkness and uncanny facial expressions is executed beautifully and helps keep this new story in direct conversation with the previous entries beyond the lore. Director Jacob Chase has an obvious love for the genre, and eagle-eyed fans may notice subtle homages to everything from "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "The Strangers" to Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2."

Chase, who used to design, build, and run a yearly haunted house called Big Worm's Sherwood Scare in Los Angeles, combines his knack for scary set pieces with a keen eye for filmmaking, resulting in some of the franchise's most well-crafted jump scares. "Out of the Further" is a thrill ride of terror and elicited more than a few gasps-turned-giggles out of me because, damn it, they got me good! One sequence, in particular, turns a child's pillow fort into the Further's version of the titular "Backrooms" and is practically begging to become a claustrophobic maze at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. It's paced so meticulously well that even though well-seasoned horror fans know something's going to pop out at you, it's still a great time when it happens.

/Film Rating: 7/10

"Insidious: Out of the Further" attacks theaters on August 21, 2026.