Insidious: The Red Doorfinally concludes the terrifying story of the Lambert family, yetInsidious: Chapter 2remains the most underrated film in the franchise. TheInsidiousmovies are connected by the chilling menace of a netherworld known as the Further, a dimension located between Heaven, Earth, and Hell, where troubled souls are condemned to remain for all eternity. In the first chapter, the Lamberts' eldest son accidentally travels to the Further and nearly has his physical body taken by a bloodthirsty demon. In the second chapter, a new menace brings the audience back to the Lambert’s roots and how their mysterious past is connected to the Further.
Insidious: Chapter 2is the last movie of the franchise directed by James Wan, one of the most importantvoices of contemporary horror. Responsible for successful franchises such asThe ConjuringandSaw, Wan’s approach toInsidiousexplored the limits of the PG-13 rating with a harrowing atmosphere and some of thebest jumpscares in horror history. While a lot is said aboutInsidious’first chapter,Chapter 2deserves more love.
Parker Crane Is Insidious' Most Terrifying Villain
Insidious: Chapter 1focuses primarily on Man with the Fire in His Face, a red-faced demon that attempted to take control of Dalton Lambert’s body. While the demon features some ofInsidious' scariest moments, it’s Parker Crane, initially introduced as the Bride in Black, that takes the reins of the film’s climax, causing the only major death in the movie. Crane is introduced as a malignant presence that Josh Lambert brought with him after accidentally traveling to the Further. His mother Lorraine begins to suspect there’s something wicked happening when she sees Crane in every picture she takes from Josh — getting closer and closer in each one. At the end ofInsidious, the psychic Elise takes a picture of Josh that turns out to be her death sentence; Crane kills Elise and takes over Josh’s body, sending him to the Further and setting up the path for a second chapter that delves deep into the villain’s shocking lore.
Past and present collide inInsidious: Chapter 2as Wan balances Renai’s attempts to save her children from their own father with Carl and the rest desperately trying to dissect Crane’s past. Echoes from Crane’s turbulent childhood take form in the Lamberts' house with a series of uncanny sightings of a deranged woman that turns out to be Crane’s mother. While the haunting and the jumpscares are merely narrative tools to establish the Further’s terrifying mythology in the first Insidious, they are crucial to Chapter 2’s jigsaw, which in turn adds up for a compelling rewatch.
Related:Insidious: The Red Door Ending, Explained
Crane is revealed to have been a serial killer in life, fueled by violence and hatred in the Further. Tormented by his insane mother during his childhood, who would raise him as a girl and insistently call him “Marilyn” while abusing him both mentally and physically, Crane would eventually give in to his darkest impulses in the form of the Bride in Black, dressing as a woman to confuse authorities and engage in a series of brutal killings.
Crane Brings Mayhem to the Lambert Residence
While Crane’s trajectory in life is terrifying alone, his doings as an evil spirit from the Further are just as disturbing. Wan offers an effective meditation on how rage and resentment live on after death as Crane meticulously takes over Josh’s physical body and attempts to destroy his innocent family. Perhaps driven by remorse of his own failed family or simply impelled by an insatiable desire to kill, Crane corrupts every inch of the Lamberts' residence with his impure soul; meanwhile, the real Josh is stuck in the Further, incessantly playing the song Renai wrote for him on the piano in an attempt to make contact.
Related:Insidious is One of the Scariest Movies Ever Made, and Here’s Why
WhileInsidious' first chapter is a chilling descent into the Further, Chapter 2 explores the opposite direction: this time the dead permeate through the world of the living. The Man with the Fire in His Facewas a demonwhose only purpose was to inflict pain on others. On the other hand, the fact that Crane was a human being devoid of any emotion is what makes him so scary. To convey the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Further taking over the Lamberts' residence, Wan is much more subtle in building up tension; there are whole horror sequences that consist of strange figures appearing in the background, some of them blink-and-miss, until the characters' suspicions lead them straight to terrifying entities.
Insidious: Chapter 2’s extremely lowRotten Tomatoesscores and its bad reception overall show that the film deserves much more love due to what it offers to the horror genre. In the movie, the concept of family gets many different interpretations. From the Lamberts' perspective, family is what keeps them safe; only united they stand strong. In the case of Crane, family is what destroys him; the oppressive need to comply with his mother’s abusive behavior turned him into a loveless person. At the end of the day, Crane was already dead long before dying. What makes the movie so special amid all the others of the franchise is how humane it is; a reminder that the Further is merely a reflection of the worst of humanity. The only shelter for these hopeless souls who had no option but to break bad.
