NEW YORK (OSV News) — Self-sacrificing maternal love animates the thin plot of “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the sixth installment in the eponymous horror franchise.
Familiarity is supposed to help film series, and so yet again, a principal character deals with the stygian astral plane of existence known as the Further. This is a sort of stinky purgatory in which the recently dead aren’t purified of sin but are instead tormented by the sense that they are not where they want to be.
The unhappy inhabitants of the Further, moreover, occasionally try to drag those among the living who can see them into their miserable zombie zone. All this is merely a serviceable premise, let it be said, not some kind of whacky theological statement.
Not only has the novelty of the Further worn off, so, too — in this edition, written and directed by Jacob Chase — have the frights. In fact, the surfeit of grinning actors in whiteface makeup and prosthetic fanged teeth popping out of doorways and running down streets will likely make moviegoers think mostly of the film’s low budget — and the high price of a ticket.
Together with her 9-year-old daughter, Maya (Island Austin), single mom Gemma (Amelia Eve), a dentist by trade, still lives in the Pittsburgh house where her own mother had died a couple of decades earlier.
Some of the recently dead, called in Insidious-speak “the acolytes,” have been hanging out in Gemma’s neighborhood. And, soon enough, one of them turns up in her office sporting some of the nastiest choppers imaginable.
So now Gemma knows a sepulchral force is lurking. But what to do?
Luckily, Gemma can turn for explanations and assistance to demonologist Elise (Lin Shaye). Elise kicked the bucket in the first movie but she’s none the worse for that. In fact, armed with her trademark lamp, she’s a dependable guide to the nuances of the Further — “It’s what I do,” she explains. Accordingly, Elise lays out for Gemma the task the latter must perform.
To wit, Gemma has to trick the head honcho of the acolytes, a former cult leader named Cyrus (Sam Spruell), into staying on this side of the Red Door, the passageway to the Further, since in our world he has no actual powers. Thereupon, a host of other creepy-crawlies, including such familiar Insidious figures as Keyface, Doll Girl and the Lipstick Demon, can dispose of Cyrus.
Perils await. But, by now, the undead characters are about as scary as the masked “spirits” from a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Viewers are thus more likely to experience tedium than frissons of pleasurable fear.
While the good nature and reliable moral compass of these movies remain in place — and the restrained depiction of violence makes this chapter possibly acceptable for older teens — the fright factor is low and originality is long gone. So it may be time to keep that Red Door firmly shut.
The film contains an occult theme, brief gore and fleeting rough language. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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