Courtney Howard // Film Critic
INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER
Rated PG-13, 1 hour and 46 minutes
Directed by: Jacob Chase
Starring: Amelia Eve, Island Austin, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Lin Shaye, Laura Gordon, Sam Spruell, Brandon Perea, Charli Penton
16 years after the debut of James Wan’s absolutely petrifying INSIDIOUS, when the first fright was conjured for the Lamberts, we now have a new family targeted by the ghastly ghouls of the Further. In this sixth installment, director/ writer Jacob Chase’s INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER takes all the franchise’s terrifying elements and surprisingly does right by its predecessors, spinning a new story about generational trauma, dentistry, motherhood and the sinister grasp of cults. Disturbingly spooky, frighteningly fun and terrifyingly effective, it’s the scariest INSIDIOUS sequel yet.
Gemma (Amelia Eve) is a resilient woman. When she was a tween, she suffered the horrible sight of seeing her mentally disturbed mom Ingrid (Laura Gordon) die in her family home during a particularly brutal fight for her life against an unseen evil. Now, as an adult, she’s chosen to raise her own sensitive tween Maya (Island Austin) in the same home – except she plans to raise her child in an environment enriched with things she felt her own childhood lacked, like love, warmth and unwavering support. Gemma’s less focused on the past, having mentally and physically compartmentalized her mother’s baggage, and has refocused on her future, launching a successful career as a dental hygienist. She even has a caring boyfriend named Nick (Brandon Perea), a cop whom she’s planning on introducing to her kid at some point soon, perhaps sooner than she thinks.
Gemma’s controlled life begins to spiral once three creepy elderly folks (whom we later learn are called The Acolytes) start skulking around her neighborhood. She experiences debilitating hallucinations that lead her to freak out both at work and in front of her worried daughter. Gemma searches her mom’s belongings, finding information that aligns with the spooky visions which propel her into and out of a foggy, darkly lit void called The Further (a purgatorial realm where many demonic spirits are trapped). However, she’s ultimately forced to consult the authority on her astral projection, seeking the help of paranormal psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) through badass tattooist medium Claire (Maisie Richardson-Sellers). Gemma is informed her newly discovered abilities are sought after by former cult leader Cyrus (Sam Spruell) and she must do everything she can to resist such advances or the world will end. Havoc ensues.
The family dynamic is continually at the core of this tension-fueled horror franchise, and it works to its greatest advantage here, telling an empowering, compelling and emotional multi-generational tale where we actually root for their safety. Before grabbing our attention with a veritable nightmare factory of scares, Chase (working from a story by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and himself) gives us ample reasons to care about these characters and their chaotic conundrums – and within a brief time frame to boot. The prologue showcasing a young Gemma (Charli Penton) frightened and alone in her unrelenting anxieties plucks at our heartstrings in addition to jangling our nerves. This tiny bit of information profoundly informs Gemma’s psychological makeup and interaction with the world as an adult, from her hyper-independence to her overall ethos on motherhood. The painted handprints on the family home’s mailbox are a lovely, subtle way to evoke emotion without dialogue.
Chase handles suspense adeptly with an assured visual dexterity that’s strikingly similar to his debut feature COME PLAY, making him the ideal candidate to impose his strong sensibilities on this entry. The conception, construction and execution of his scares are sharp, intuitive and tangible, ranging from stomach-churning (a teeth cleaning from Hell) to pulse-quickening (a race to upend Cyrus’ villainous plan to bring the hostile ghosts of the Further into the real world). Even a sofa cushion fort feels oppressively claustrophobic (and slightly referential to ALIENS). Later, there’s a smart HALLOWEEN homage deployed in the denouement. Chase, cinematographer David Garbett and editor Gregory Plotkin know precisely how long to hold a shot before panning the camera, or cutting away, to a distressing sight. While it can be exhausting in the 3rd act to track the characters’ overly-convoluted scheme, overall, sequences are fairly snappily paced.
Tonal notes within the narrative are echoed in composer Joseph Bishara’s score, which is the right amount of grim and foreboding. Staccato strings that provide the franchise’s famous opening title card thematic stinger still serve to shock. Though Eve carries the entire film on her shoulders, delving into the dark recesses of a plagued, tortured woman with nuance and open-hearted vulnerability, it’s Austin who stands out in a powerhouse performance in the latter half of the picture. She elevates a would-be thankless role, delivering grounding, humanistic work. Richardson-Sellers is also a magnetic draw in a stealth supporting role.
INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER is a solid entry point for newbies, but works perfectly for longtime fans as well. It’s a genuine feat to do both, in addition to keeping things fresh and unique, in a feature of its ilk – they tried before to panic a new family and came up short, specifically with Leigh Whannell’s snoozefest INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3. Without killing the dog (a trope to connote supernatural danger afoot), Chase and co have carefully crafted a solid sequel.
Grade: B+
INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER will be in theaters on August 21.
