Insidious: The Red Door Will Have More Dread Than Jump-Scares

When "Insidious: The Red Door" hits theaters this July, it'll mark the franchise's first return to the story that started it all in a full decade, but it'll also be a big "first" for its filmmaker. Patrick Wilson, who starred in the first two films as family patriarch Josh Lambert, will be taking his turn behind the director's chair for the latest installment in the "Insidious" series. It's a role that's nothing like any Wilson has played before. A veteran actor with memorable turns in films like "Hard Candy" and "The Conjuring," Wilson has never actually worked as a director until now.

The newly minted filmmaker wrote an essay about his work on "Insidious: The Red Door" for the newest issue of Empire, and revealed that he decided to up the dread factor in the latest movie instead of following in original franchise filmmaker James Wan's jump-scare-heavy footsteps. "This being a movie with Dalton and Josh dealing with trauma, balancing the light and dark in their life, it's very heavy stuff and doesn't lend itself to jump-scares," Wilson wrote. The latest installment takes place a decade after the second "Insidious" film and follows Dalton (Ty Simpkins), now a young adult, as he finds that he can't quite shake the demons of his past as he heads to college.

Trailers for the film have revealed that Dalton, having forgotten about the events that led to his childhood coma, now thinks he's being plagued by nightmares. According to Patrick Wilson, the film that's being billed as the end of the Lamberts' story is set to be both frightening and emotional. "I can only approach this movie from the inside out, looking at what 10 years would do to Josh and [...] the rest of the family," Wilson wrote, "and looking at how we can make that scary and make that emotional." In addition to Wilson and Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne is also set to return as Dalton's mom Renai, and it seems likely that none of these three characters is safe this time around. Wilson confirmed as much: "If I'm doing this, it's going to get ugly for these characters."

Though the actor-turned-filmmaker is pretty transparent about wanting to differentiate himself from James Wan — whose red demon jump scare in the first film is among the most startling scenes in 21st-century horror — Wilson also noted the film isn't entirely void of heart-pounding moments. "There are certainly some very cool jump-scares," he added, "but I didn't want to emulate James, or be more like him. So there's a tonal dread." Dread, when done well, can be much scarier to me than a moment designed to catch audiences off-guard, so this sounds like a welcome change for a franchise whose prequel installments never quite garnered as much buzz as their predecessors.

Elsewhere in the Empire piece, Patrick Wilson explained how he ended up with the directing gig in the first place. He revealed that franchise writer (and modern horror mainstay) Leigh Whannell penned a 15-page outline for a fifth "Insidious" film that Wilson got on his first day of work on "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It." The story focused on Dalton, with Josh "in it a little bit."

Wilson apparently wasn't initially super thrilled about returning for another sequel, writing, "Nothing against them, but that didn't really appeal to me." However, when his agent suggested he ask about directing the film, Wilson got over some initial concerns (he admitted he didn't want to try to follow in Whannell and James Wan's footsteps, which is understandable) and decided to give it a go — with both filmmakers supporting in producer roles.

Reading all of this, "Insidious: The Red Door" sounds a bit like an experiment for a franchise that could use a new direction. Will it be a successful one? It's tough to say until we've seen it, but between Wilson's turn as director, the return of cast members like the legendary Lin Shaye, and the promise of a go-big-or-go-home ending, it certainly sounds like a sequel worth tuning in for. 

"Insidious: The Red Door" hits theaters on July 7, 2023.