Ranking The Insidious Franchise!

Hi all!

Today I’m back to rank another beloved horror franchise of mine: Insidious. If you didn’t know, Insidious is the only spooky series to have a female, senior citizen as its protagonist. I adore Elise Reiner. She’s so inspiring and kick-ass for a woman her age. This franchise was created by two of my favourite horror director’s: James Wan and Leigh Whannell. I’ll be discussing them more in next week’s post. In each film, Elise is contacted to investigate a haunting. She uses her skills as a proficient medium to enter a place called the Further; a dark realm where souls are damned to roam forever. There, she is able to banish whatever demon has taken possession of her clients. It’s absolutely terrifying but also quite emotional and deep. Without further ado, let’s get into it! Spoilers ahead!

1.) Insidious 

My favourite film is definitely the first one. It’s where everything began. We follow the story of the Lambert family, who are haunted by a collection of malevolent entities and a powerful demon. The family consists of school teacher Josh, musician Renai, their oldest son Dalton, his younger brother Foster and baby Cali. After Dalton suffers from a tragic accident, disturbing events begin to occur. Renai hears spooky voices on the baby monitor, bloody hand-prints appear on the sheets and she sees shadowy figures in her daughter’s room. Josh’s mother Lorraine, contacts her old friend, Elise Reiner (an expert in paranormal activity) to come investigate. Along with her team, Specs and Tucker, Elise is able to deduce that Dalton is skilled in astral projection. This movie has a tragic ending. It will stay with you for a long time. We also learn of a terrifying spirit that is linked to some of the other films. The journey into the Further is truly unique and scary. It’s what made this franchise stick out to me.

2.) Insidious: Chapter 3 

My second favourite film in the franchise is the third. It takes place several years before the Lambert case and follows a young girl named Quinn, who contacts Elise in the hopes of connecting with her late mother’s spirit. Elise urges Quinn to cease contact immediately when an unwanted, malevolent demon crosses over with the intent of possessing the unsuspecting teenager. After Quinn is hit by a car, she’s confined to her home in a wheelchair with limited mobility and means to defend herself. This makes her even more vulnerable to the monster. This installment had a lot of heart. It features Elise’s late husband Jack and how the dead protect us long after they are gone. I’m such a sucker for character development, which made Chapter 3 worthy of such a high ranking.

3.) Insidious: Chapter 2 

Chapter 2 is a direct sequel to the first film. It also covers what happened to Josh as a child. Shortly following the events of Insidious, the Lambert family continue to experience paranormal disturbances, not realising that Josh has been possessed since his last visit to the Further. It’s lower on my list because not a whole lot happens. The best part, in my opinion, is when we learn that time in the Further does not move chronologically. The characters are able to traverse through the past and revisit old memories. I love anything with time travel, so this was such a hit for me. It just wasn’t as impactful as the third and first films.

4.) Insidious: The Last Key 

Even thought the prequel is last on my list, it wasn’t bad. I still enjoyed it, it just didn’t compare to the others. In this film, parapsychologist Elise Reiner and her team travel to Five Keys, N.M., to investigate a man’s claim of a haunting. Terror soon strikes when Elise realizes that the house he lives in was her family’s old home. Through a series of flashbacks, we are given insight into how our protagonist came into her powers. It was really nice to watch her backstory unfold and provide further context. I like how the ending loops back around to Insidious. This franchise is really good at connecting plot points together. It wasn’t as scary as I would’ve liked, but I do recommend it.

I hope you enjoyed this post! What do you think of the Insidious franchise and how would you rank the movies? Insidious: The Dark Realm is being released this November and I’m so excited. Thanks for reading!

Peace & Love xoxo