Parents' Guide to Insidious: Out of the Further

This sixth movie in the horror series has a couple of decent moments, such as a character lost in a pillow fort and a gross-out scene at the dentist, but it's a bit too cursory and a bit too tame. Now in the hands of director Jacob Chase (Come Play), the franchise tries to start fresh with Insidious: Out of the Further. Except for Elise, who, being deceased, only exists in the Further, all of the characters are new. There's an attempt to add psychological depth to them, but it's simple armchair stuff designed to get the plot going. The movie isn't interested in humanity, as evidenced by its lack of concern over innocent characters who get killed. It seems more interested in its collection of zombie-like monsters, each with its own visual motif, like a half-off sale at a Spirit Halloween store or outtakes from Beetlejuice. A scene in which a character uses grapefruits to demonstrate a daring rescue-escape plan is just bizarre enough that it might be meme-able.

Jump-scare frights are of the tamer variety, with very little to actually chill the blood. Not even Shaye's Elise offers viewers enough to get excited or nostalgic this time around. Elise—paired with her ne'er-do-well filmmaking team Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Insidious creator Leigh Whannell) were enough to barely make Insidious: Chapter 3 worth seeing. The series should have ended back then, and Insidious: Out of the Further just indicates yet again that the producers are beating a dead franchise.