All the Insidious Films, In Order 

Six years after they took the world by storm with Saw, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell joined forces to create the first Insidious film. The 2010 movie starred Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne as married couple Josh and Renai Lambert, whose life is turned upside down after moving home. Early into their arrival, their son Dalton inexplicably falls into a coma-like state. His condition leaves his body open for possession and several demonic forces begin circling the boy in the hopes of claiming his vessel for themselves. The desperate couple turn to Lin Shaye’s psychic Elise and her companions, Specs and Tucker, for help. They then get a crash course in the astral plane called The Further. 

Insidious is a brilliant example of modern horror. The film unashamedly wears its love for films like The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist on its sleeve, but uses that admiration to create a version of them for a new generation. Genuinely creepy in a lot of places, Insidious has some excellent scare sequences. Most know the film for the surprise appearance of the Lipstick Demon behind Josh, which is one of the greatest jump scares in history, but it’s the home alarm scene that really spikes the adrenaline. Even worse, no matter how many times you watch the film, that shrill alarm always manages to startle and pierce your heart.

Insidious: Chapter 2 picks up right where the first film ends, with Josh now possessed by something from the Further, and the murder of Elise. With Renai oblivious to her husband's condition, the family try to uncover answers as to what happened. This takes them on a trip down memory lane as secrets from Josh’s past are delved into. As Renai begins to suspect all is not well with Josh, a Shining-esque battle ensues. 

Whilst the decision to explore more of the Lambert family is the right decision for the first Insidious sequel, the story itself ends up getting a little too convoluted. The scares too feel like a repeat of the first film's greatest hits. Releasing the same year as The Conjuring also left Insidious Chapter 2 overshadowed. Although initially a disappointment to fans, the film went on to play a pivotal part in the later sequel's return to the Lambert family.

After spending two movies with the Lambert family, for Insidious: Chapter 3, the series got a shake up. The plot this time around shifted focus to a teenage girl called Quinn who, desperate to speak with her deceased mother, reaches out to retired psychic Elise. Told by Elise to move on, Quinn takes matters into her own hands and winds up injured and stalked by a menacing entity with only Elise and her newly acquired sidekicks, Specs and Tucker, to save her. 

If you want to watch the Insidious series in story order then technically you have to watch film three before one and two. The decision to make Insidious: Chapter 3 a prequel was an easy way to bring fan favourite Elise into the mix, and Lin Shaye shines in this one. The film, the directorial debut of franchise scribe Leigh Whannell, is a love letter to the character and gives Shaye plenty of time to showcase some of Elise’s background. The scares don’t have the same impact as the original, but one sequence involving a laptop manages to be rather chilling.

Insidious: The Last Key once more throws Elise into the spotlight. This time the story digs into her childhood, explains the origins of her powers, and introduces the ‘Keyface’ demon. In the present, Elise, Specs, and Tucker are called in to help a family who are living in Elise’s old family home. Upon arrival, Elise realises that the family in need of help is in fact her own; the daughters of her estranged brother, Christian. As she tries to mend fences and thwart evil, Elise has to confront the darkness of her past. 

Although Elsie-heavy, Insidious: The Last Key doesn’t really work. It’s often viewed as the weakest Insidious film and it is easy to understand why. The scare sequences all feel a little empty, and Elise’s personal history is a tad too bleak for a film designed to be frightful and fun. It does, however, have a killer ending in which Elise gets a phone call from Josh’s mother, Lorraine, asking for her help. This event ties the timeline back into the original, and many assumed that with the loop closed, this was the end of the franchise.

Horror being horror, no film property is ever truly dead and so, in 2023, Insidious returned with Insidious: The Red Door. The film marked a long-awaited return to the Lambert family. With Dalton now grown-up and on his way to college, the suppression of his and Josh’s memories at the end of the second film appears to have worked. But then, the fledgling artist is encouraged to dig deeper into his own psyche by his teacher and Dalton starts painting a red door. As his obsession with the drawing intensifies, strange things start happening and Dalton and Josh begin remembering, leading to one more trip into the Further.

This return to the Lambert family reignites the spark in the series. What makes it work even more is that almost all of the original cast are back. Waiting for Ty Simpkins to be old enough to play teenage Dalton rather than getting someone new in was the right call, and fans of the original are hit with wave after wave of nostalgia. The plot really helps smooth over the wobblier aspects of the first sequel and it really is far better than a fifth film in a horror franchise should be. Insidious: The Red Door is made extra special as it was directed by Josh Lambert himself, Patrick Wilson. His love for the characters is evident and Insidious: The Red Door is worth watching for the end credits alone in which Wilson makes the baller move to play a cover version of Shakespeare Sister’s anthem ‘Stay’, for which he himself features alongside Ghost.

Originally set for release in August 2025, Insidious: Out of the Further now arrives in cinemas a year later. With the previous film giving the Lambert family a fitting swan song, the most recent chapter in the Insidious series is all change. The story introduces new character Gemma as she discovers that she can not only travel into the Further, but also bring things back. Once the demons dwelling in the other plane realise this, they seek to hitch a ride on Gemma and take over the land of the living.

Although dead since the first film, Elise is once again on hand to help, this time in the form of Gemma’s spirit guide. Early reviews have called the film a serviceable sequel, with most revealing that the mid-credits scene is what ultimately saves it. Its biggest offence however, is that it falls into the trap of thinking it is a Conjuring movie and so spends far too much time building up very obvious jump scares.