“Insidious: The Red Door” is in theaters now. Fifth film in the horror saga started in 2011, find out where Patrick Wilson’s feature film is chronologically.
Warning, this article contains spoilers on the films of the Insidious saga.
In 2011, horror film fans discovered the Lambert family and their demons in James Wan’s Insidious. Written by Leigh Whannell and starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins and Lin Shaye, the film follows Josh, his wife and their three children who have recently moved into their new home.
But quickly, Dalton, the eldest, falls into an unexplained coma and a succession of paranormal phenomena begins. A medium then reveals to them that the soul of their son is somewhere between life and death, in the astral dimension.
12 years later, Insidious: The Red door, the fifth and last film in the franchise, is released in our theaters. In this 12-and-under-12-rated feature film, Josh and his now-student son Dalton must delve even deeper into the Far Away to confront their family’s dark past and a multitude of ever-worrisome spirits that hide behind the Red Door.
Over the past decade, the films of the Insidious saga have offered audiences many scares and spirits, each more terrifying than the next. However, like other horror movie franchises like Conjuring and its spin-offs, The Insidious did not hit theaters in chronological story order.
In what order to watch the films of the saga?
If you want to refresh your memory before going to see Insidious: The red door in theaters, and see the films in chronological order, follow the guide!
Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
sony Lin Shaye in Insidious: Chapter 3
Released in cinemas in 2015, Insidious: Chapter 3 is the first film in the franchise directed by the screenwriter of the previous opuses Leigh Whannell. Prequel to the misadventures of the Lambert family, this chapter 3 is carried by Elise (Lin Shaye), the medium who comes to the aid of Josh and Dalton in chapters 1 and 2.
In the film, young Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) is attacked by a malevolent entity. Sean (Dermot Mulroney), the girl’s father, begs Elise to help them. Assisted by two parapsychologists, Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell), Elise then agrees to try to come into contact with the dead.
Forced to venture into the depths of the afterlife to protect Quinn, Elise will face the worst enemy she has ever encountered: a soul-eating demon.
This film allows us to discover the character of Elise, who will play an important and life-saving role for the rest of the series, as well as the duo formed by Tucker and Specs.
Insidious 4: The Last Key (2018)
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The last key
The Last Key by Adam Robitel delves deeper into Elise’s life and explains how she became a paranormal investigator.
The main story takes place after the events of Chapter 3, however the feature film includes many flashbacks to the medium’s childhood in 1954, which allow viewers to better understand Elise’s journey. This film is once again a prequel to the films centered on the Lamberts.
In Insidious: The Last Key, the parapsychologist will face the most frightening and personal case of her history: she must intervene in the house of her childhood…
The end of this film makes it possible to link the two prequels to the main films of the saga since after defeating Key Face, Elise receives a call from Lorraine Lambert (Barbara Hershey) asking her to help her save her grandson Dalton (Ty Simpkins).
Insidious (2011)
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Ty Simpkins in Insidious
First film of the franchise, Insidious of James Wan takes place immediately after the events of The Last Key.
While Dalton is in a coma, the Lambert family asks Elise for help. This reveals to them that the child has powers of astral projection and that he is actually stuck in Le Lointain.
Elise will reveal to Josh (Patrick Wilson) that the latter has the same abilities as her son but that his memories have been erased in order to protect him from a demon who terrorized him when he was a child.
Josh then ventures into Le Lointain and saves Dalton. But when she returns, Elise realizes, at her expense, that Josh has returned possessed. The latter, possessed by The Bride in Black, then strangles the medium. Elise dies.
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
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The Lambert family in Insidious 2
Two years after Insidious, viewers find the Lamberts for the direct sequel to the horror film.
The police investigate Elise’s brutal death. If Josh is exonerated, his wife Renai still has doubts after seeing the photo of the Bride taken by Elise before her death.
New paranormal phenomena will disturb the life of the family. Renai therefore calls on Tucker, Specks and Carl (Steve Coulter), Elise’s former assistants. Also a medium, the latter will come into contact with the spirit of the deceased who will, once again, help them from limbo.
This film will provide the answers left hanging in the first opus, namely: what happened to Josh as a child before Elise erased his memory in 1986.
Josh will understand his past and will have to return to Le Lointain to get rid of the spirit. The father and the son will then ask Carl to erase their memories so that they can live in peace.
Insidious 5: The Red Door (2023)
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Ty Simpkins in Insidious 5
In this fifth and final installment of the saga, Josh and Dalton have been apart for 10 years. Josh has a foggy mind and can no longer communicate with his children, nor with his ex-wife Renai.
Having left for the University to study drawing, Dalton delves into his unconscious and paints the famous red door, thus opening the world of the spirits. The two men will, once again, have to team up and return to the Distant.
First film of the franchise directed by Patrick Wilson, Insidious: The Red Door is therefore the last film of the saga in the order of release but also in chronological order.
The film, for which all the original cast is back, is in theaters now.