Insidious: The Red Door's twisted journey into a demonic nightmare hits audiences with some
serious shocks. Let's peek behind the red door at the creepiest moments from the new movie.
Even before the film's title comes onto the screen, "The Red Door" gets audiences' hearts
pumping with a suspenseful sequence. The opening moments of "The Red Door" are actually more sad
than scary as we're reintroduced to the Lambert family at the funeral of Josh's
mother Lorraine. There, we come to see that Josh and Renai have gone through a
divorce because of Josh's memory struggles and the painful past they've gone through
together -- which has also caused Josh and Dalton to have a strained relationship.
The scene instantly brings out some emotional pain within Josh that's present throughout the
film. However, it also gives us our first taste of the hair-raising suspense to come.
When Josh gets into his car to text Dalton, there's a strange looking figure slowly
shambling towards Josh's car from behind. Given this franchise's history, we already know that
nothing good can come from something like that. Thankfully, before it can do anything to Josh,
he starts to drive away. While nothing too dire happens, the suspense of this
sequence sets the tone and shows that Josh's reconnection with the Further has already begun.
Dalton's first art class with the very intense Professor Armagen starts off very well but takes
a demonic turn. While Dalton is able to make a first good impression, her next assignment for him
ends up unexpectedly making his connection to the Further grow stronger. As he relaxes into his next
piece and starts vigorously drawing something, the picture that starts to form represents the
door to the Further that's starting to re-open. As a viewer, it's so easy to become hypnotized by
Dalton's fast drawing movements and the creepy door that starts to come together. However,
what makes this scene terrifying is the sudden jump scare that comes from Dalton's hand being
slammed into the canvas causing blood to splatter and giving the door a sickening red color.
The noise and sudden appearance of a burned up hand make this scene have probably the
best and most effective jump scare of the film. It's the kind of scare that
catches everyone off guard and leaves them shaking with every
suspenseful sequence that follows -- fearful of what'll come next.
"Our family has been keeping secrets. They suppressed our memories."
To better understand why his memory has been so foggy for the last couple years,
Josh decides to seek professional help by going to a doctor so that
they can perform an MRI. At first, the appointment seems pretty routine,
but once Josh is in the scanning machine for a bit, the lights suddenly turn off and Josh
becomes stuck with no one seemingly around to help. For audiences, it's clear that he's
become sucked into the Further and it doesn't take long for a horrifying figure to appear.
Initially, the creepy undead medical patient appears behind Josh's head and
nearly touches him with his disgusting hand. When Josh looks behind him,
there's no one there. But when he quickly turns to look forward again, he can see the figure
scuttling towards him out of the dark. Luckily, Josh gets brought back to reality just in time,
but is told by the doctor that he was merely sleeping. The doctor might not have found
anything wrong with Josh, but this scene is a horrifying sign of worse things to come.
Although Dalton isn't interested in attending a local frat party at first, his eccentric new
roommate Chris pulls him along for the night. Before the festivities start, frat leader Nick
tells the party about a previous incident where someone died from over-intoxication.
Later, in Nick's bedroom, Dalton tries to help someone he hears violently throwing up in the
bathroom. However, he comes to see that it's the spirit of the boy who died in the frat house,
who is covered in vomit. Dalton's attempt to hide from the entity under Nick's bed
only works for so long, though. When Dalton tries to make a break for it,
the entity quickly catches him and proceeds to vomit all over him. Thankfully, again,
none of this is real. Chris finds Dalton afraid, but not covered in ghost vomit. It's a sequence
full of stomach-churning suspense and visuals that no viewer will forget.
Per the doctor's order, Josh attempts to strengthen his memory by playing a
classic memory game where he's tasked with remembering where two of the same
photo are in a grid. However, his game is rudely interrupted by that same presence
who stalked him in the opening. The shambling entity is seen outside the window covered in
photos -- initially standing across the street but slowly making his way towards the house.
Every time Josh resets the game and changes around some photos,
it's hard not to grip tighter to your seat because the suspense is so palpable. Eventually though,
the tension is broken when the figure crashes through the window and starts to chase and
attack Josh throughout the house. Their fight makes its way to a bedroom where Josh thinks he
can fight back, but he is ultimately unmatched and thrown into a closet -- which causes him to
slip into the Further briefly. Josh's memory game takes a very scary turn that makes this
sequence one of the tensest of the film as it totally leaves viewers on edge throughout.
As Dalton deals with all the lingering fear of what he saw at the frat house,
he eventually falls asleep in his room and slips into the Further. While we've seen
Dalton and Josh go into the Further for brief times throughout the film, this is the first
extended look at them revisiting the Further. At first, nothing too drastic happens as Dalton walks
through halls and even plays a bit of a prank on Chris by playing her instrument while she's
sleeping. Dalton quickly comes to understand his power in the Further though and bolts when Chris
starts to see the results of his actions. It's honestly pretty creepy to see things from Chris'
perspective as she notices her instrument fall out of thin air and her door slam on its own.
Yup, that's not even the most terrifying moment of this scene. That moment comes
when Dalton is running back to his room and a creepy entity can be seen tailing
him. This is kind of our first real glimpse at the Lipstick-Face Demon's
return. While it's far from being the scariest scene of the film,
the first trip back into the Further still manages to leave viewers on a terrifying close-call.
"The further you travel, the riskier your journey will become."
To gain a better understanding of what's happening to him,
Dalton tells Chris that he wants to go back to the frat house to talk with the entity he
encountered there and see what he can learn. While Dalton's idea and intentions are good,
things take a nasty turn once he enters the Further. Dalton ends up putting Chris'
life in jeopardy when the demons of the Further start to enter the real world.
Chris is suddenly getting choked out by a demon that appears, and Dalton's attempt to
head back to the room to save her is thwarted by a demon grabbing him through the wall. This
leads to Chris nearly dying and Dalton almost getting stuck in the Further. Thankfully,
Nick resuscitates Chris and both her and Dalton are able to leave with their lives.
After seeing the picture of the door start to form something totally horrifying,
Dalton decides to go deeper into the Further than he's gone yet in this film and ends up
in a place that "Insidious" fans will instantly recognize. Dalton is transported into a basement
that seems unfamiliar at first, but holds a secret that's been suppressed in his
memories for years. As fans remember, at the end of "Chapter 2" a possessed Josh
goes full Jack Torrance mode and begins hunting his family down in the basement.
"You did this to yourselves."
As Dalton watches on, he comes to understand how fearful everyone was of Josh and nearly
sees his father take a hammer to his younger self. Unlike "Chapter 2" though,
Specs doesn't rush in to stop Josh. This time, Dalton actually charges at his father.
While Dalton's actions might seem helpful, it ends up only pulling him deeper into the trap
that's unfolding. It's absolutely terrifying to be brought back into the tense finale of
"Chapter 2," but it ends up being the perfect way to kick off the big finale of this film.
Dalton's trip into the Further only leads to ruin as he comes face to face with the Lipstick-Face
Demon. At first, it seems like Dalton is trapped in the demon's horrifying room, but he suddenly
reawakes in reality, making viewers likely think that he somehow got away. However, his creepy
smile and unsettling demeanor give viewers a hint that something else has happened and
it's not too long until the truth is revealed. It turns out that Dalton never made it back from The
Further as he's been trapped by the Lipstick-Face Demon -- who has now taken over Dalton's body.
"Make it stop. Please, make it stop."
"Dalton?"
It was bad enough when Josh got possessed in "Chapter 2," but Dalton now becoming possessed
gives off more daunting and dangerous vibes that make the whole ordeal truly terrifying.
While Dalton is possessed by the Lipstick-Face Demon, he's stuck in the demon's quarters in the
Further -- which is pretty much like being stuck in hell. It goes without saying, but
coming back to the Lipstick-Face Demon's domain is never fun. The evil red tint, the haunting
music — everything about the place makes you want to escape this hellish nightmare as quickly as
possible. Plus, you instantly feel the entity's dominating sense of control in this realm,
so characters feel out of their comfort zone as soon as they step into the entity's domain.
With "The Red Door," all these elements are elevated to horrifying new heights,
sticking audiences smack dab in a legitimately scary scene.
After the Lipstick-Face Demon leaves Dalton's body to stop Josh and Dalton in the Further,
Chris starts to work on a plan to save Dalton by using strings of lights to
bring him back to his body. However, that plan doesn't work for long as other entities from
the Further start to invade the room and work their way towards her and Dalton's
lifeless body. It genuinely feels like a scene in a zombie movie where horrifying
creatures just start to pour into the room and surround helpless victims.
Thankfully, nothing fatal occurs as the entities disappear once Dalton is able to
return to reality. However, there's no forgetting the chills and thrills that
came from Chris suffering another close brush with death and it leads into the
final moments of Dalton and Josh fighting back their past demons.
Even though Dalton doesn't want to leave his father in the Further,
Josh tells him to run while he attempts to keep the door to the Further shut for
good. It's an emotional sacrifice by Josh that acts as redemption for him as a failed father,
but it nearly comes to nothing. Not even Josh can hold that red-faced entity back. The demon's face
peering out of the hole in the door is downright haunting and there's a lot of suspense built
into this moment of Josh doing everything he can to keep the Further from breaking out.
Dalton doesn't quit on his father though and ends up helping him keep the door closed by
painting over the drawing of the door. The gross black paint washing over the
door adds some strong visual horror to the otherwise fulfilling moment,
and that last look from the Lipstick-Face Demon is undeniably chilling. The finale
of "The Red Door" certainly doesn't let off the gas in providing some horrifying
moments and tense sequences as the Lamberts close this disturbing chapter in their lives.