When a franchise has too many entries, it’s inevitable that most people lose track of how many movies have actually been released. That is the case with the Insidious franchise as well. For the record, Out of the Further marks the sixth entry. They keep making money, which this franchise seem to do so well. The fifth entry The Red Door, for example made over $182 million at the global box office against a $16 million budget. So filmmakers will undoubtedly keep pushing them out. Unless you are a fan of the franchise though, you’ll more than confusion because the movies come out in a way that the storyline is not in chronological order.

Insidious: Out of the FurtherOut of the Further tells the story of Gemma (Amelia Eve), a young single mother who is raising her daughter in the house she grew up in. Unfortunately the house she grew up in his some very unhappy memories attached to it, such as it being the place where her mother suddenly killed herself one evening. It’s been twenty years since that horrific event though, and Gemma seems to have moved on.

When strange things start happening to her though, such as odd people moving to her neighbourhood who stalk her day and night and terrifying dreams she doesn’t seem able to wake up from, she starts to wonder if the past has come back to haunt her. To figure out what is happening to her, Gemma reaches out to Elise (Lin Shaye) who is an expert in everything surrounding the Further. While Elise does give her advice, it is up to Gemma to fight for her and her daughter’s survival.

For a movie franchise that has been around since 2010, Insidious starts off showing that it has some serious chops left. It’s creepy, full of jump scares, and at times it will gross you out. Unfortunately it only manages to hold onto that aura for the first half of the movie. The second half of the film flounders as it tries to explain everything and wrap things up in a neat little bow. Elise really doesn’t need to be in the film at all, and if the franchise is to ever continue, she needs to finally bow out. Let someone else take the lead, and maybe send characters down a different path. The main villain of the movie, a cultist name Cyrus Lam (Sam Spruell), who doesn’t really make an appearance other than his voice until mid-way through the movie, is more comical than scary and looks more like a washed up rock star than a cult leader.

Unfortunately Insidious: Out of the Further tries too hard to be anything special. It copies the tired old flow of the previous movies, in that it starts out scary and ends up flat. It’s a shame too, because it felt like it had so much potential, but got lost somewhere along the way. Hint to wannabe film makers, movies can be scary without telling us why they are scary. Just let them do their thing, and let the audience use their imagination for once. Don’t hand hold people to show them the story, let them discover it on their own.