Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on Insidious: Out of the Further

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 10 November 2026 · The Pros 53 · The Punters 50 · Spore Score 52 · How we write our takes

Where The Pros and The Punters land

Insidious: Out of the Further is a crystal clear film. The Pros give it 53, The Punters 50, and the Spore Score is 52. Both camps say much the same thing: it has some genuinely frightening moments, but it is the sixth film in a franchise that has run out of new ideas. Opening-night audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore, the same grade as the previous film, and critics were just as lukewarm.

What it is

The Insidious series began in 2010 with James Wan and Leigh Whannell's low-budget haunted house hit, built around the Further, a dark realm where lost souls and demons wait. This entry, a sequel to 2023's Insidious: The Red Door, is written and directed by Jacob Chase, who made the horror film Come Play. Amelia Eve plays Gemma Hall, a single mother and dental hygienist in Pittsburgh who, as a child, saw her mother die in the family bathroom. Now raising her own daughter in the same house, Gemma starts astral projecting and finds something has followed her back. Lin Shaye returns as the psychic Elise Rainier, the heart of the series, and Brandon Perea plays Gemma's police officer boyfriend.

What it does well

Chase knows how to stage a scare. A dental appointment with an elderly patient who bites Gemma's finger is a brilliantly nasty sequence, and the scenes inside the Further, with silent spirits gathering round a chair, are among the most effective in the franchise. Eve is a strong lead, giving Gemma real grief and grit. Joseph Bishara, who has scored every film in the series and plays the Lipstick-Face Demon, makes a welcome return.

Where it falls short

The film tries to put a new spin on the mythology, but the more it explains about the Further, the less scary it becomes. Characters exist mostly to deliver rules, and the plot follows the series' familiar pattern. If you have seen the earlier films, you can predict many of the big moments.

Who it is for

Fans of the series who want more time with Elise. Horror fans after a few good jump scares on a Friday night. Not essential for anyone else, and newcomers would be better off starting with the 2010 original.

Context

The film was shot in Melbourne in late 2025 and released in US cinemas by Sony on 21 August 2026. Made for around $18 million, it took more than $170 million worldwide, so expect another one. It has been available to buy digitally since 6 October 2026.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Hit and miss, with a Spore Score of 52. A handful of excellent scares in a tired formula. The Pros and The Punters agree, and so do we: fine for fans, skippable for everyone else.