Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) Screen Gems/Horror RT: 106 minutes Rated PG-13 (strong violent content, bloody images, terror, some strong language) Director: Jacob Chase Screenplay: Jacob Chase Music: Joseph Bishara Cinematography: Dave Garbett Release date: August 21, 2026 (US) Cast: Amelia Eve, Island Austin, Brandon Perea, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Laura Gordon, Lin Shaye, Sam Spruell, Joshua Lopez, Robina Beard, Susan Grey, Charli Penton, Zahra Newman, Andy McPhee, Julie Nihill.
Rating: ** ½
Was it really necessary to make a sixth Insidious movie? Somebody at Sony thought so; otherwise, we wouldn’t be dealing with Insidious: Out of the Further. It’s the usual PG-13 horror claptrap featuring all the expected tropes- e.g. sudden loud noises, hideous demons, possessed toys, creepy old people, childhood trauma and telegraphed jump-scares. It isn’t anything you have seen a hundred times before.
The latest Insidious tale of terror opens in 1999 with young Gemma (Penton) witnessing her disturbed mother’s (Gordon, Late Night with the Devil) suicide. Or so she thinks. 20 years later, the now-grown Gemma (Eve, The Haunting of Bly Manor) is a dental hygienist with a young daughter of her own, Maya (Austin, I Can Only Imagine 2). She still lives in her childhood home despite all the bad memories. Her beau, local policeman Nick (Perea, Twisters), encourages her to sell, but she insists on holding onto the property.
The weird stuff begins after Gemma spots a creepy-looking elderly trio wandering around the neighborhood. Soon thereafter, she starts having nightmares. Then one of them (Lopez, Passenger) visits her at the office. What she finds when he opens his mouth is both unsettling and yucky.
It turns out the creepy old people are in cahoots with a demonic cult leader named Cyrus (Spruell, The Thing with Feathers). He lives in the Further, a realm occupied by the souls of the malevolent dead. He wants something from Gemma. She communicates with the deceased medium Elise (series regular Shaye) through psychic tattoo artist Clare (Sellers, Legends of Tomorrow) who explains that she has the ability to bring things to and from the Further. He wants Gemma to bring him and several others into the real world. Obviously, she has to find a way to stop him.
Written and directed by Jacob Chase (Come Play), Insidious: Out of the Further is awash in clichés and stolen ideas from other better scary movies. It brings nothing new to the table except a different set of characters and even then, the notion of a single mom and her daughter dealing with supernatural phenomena isn’t exactly novel. It runs on autopilot until the third act when things get a little more interesting. That’s not to say it’s unpredictable. Oh, it’s absolutely predictable. It’s still kind of fun though. I wish the whole movie had been more like it.
Am I the only one who notices that the franchise is running out of fresh ideas? I can’t be. It’s been feeling stale starting with the fourth entry. It’s reached a point where the makers are taking ideas from other horror films. The one that stands out the most for me is the character of Clare. She reminds me of another eccentric female medium from an 80s cult favorite. Do you know who I’m referring to? It’s none other than Zarabeth from Witchboard (1987). I thought of Zarabeth every time Clare showed up. The only difference is the fate of the two ladies. While we’re on the subject, I couldn’t stop myself from saying “Is it safe?” during the scene in the dental office. Do you know the source of that quote? No? I guess you didn’t see Marathon Man, a thriller featuring Laurence Olivier as a sadistic Nazi dentist who took great delight in torturing Dustin Hoffman with tools of the trade. Given the average age of last night’s audience, my remark probably went right over their heads. Oh well.
There’s not a whole hell of a lot to say about the acting in Insidious: Out of the Further. They all deliver the exact kinds of performances the material calls for. Eve and young Austin scream real good. Perea’s bf stands by his woman. Sellers gives off a cool vibe as the medium who makes clever use of grapefruits. Gordon is suitably haunted. Shaye, on the other hand, looks like she’s had about enough of this nonsense. She gives it her all anyway.
The effects in Insidious: Out of the Further are actually decent because Chase opts for practical FX and makeup prosthetics rather than CGI. It’s one of the best things about the movie. And don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Insidious: Out of the Further is a bad movie. It’s not It’s merely an example of going back to the well too often. It’s time to close the red door on this franchise and throw away the last key.
