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Horror movies to binge after watching Insidious: The Red Door

by Gaby Agbulos

Warning: contains spoilers

LAST July 5, the latest installment of the Insidious franchise was released, marking the fifth in the series. Here, the young Dalton we’ve seen during the first few movies is all grown up, now entering his first year of college at a liberal arts school. 

Everything from the previous events in the earlier movies had been forgotten with the help of hypnosis.

But the memories of the horrific figures Dalton has seen in the past quickly start to resurface, as he is asked to dig deeper and deeper into his emotions to reach the true potential of his art.

The first installment of the Insidious series was released back in 2010, with the second following in 2013, then the third in 2015, and the fourth in 2018. This marks a total of five years that have passed since the last Insidious movie.

People quickly started to wonder when the next one will be coming out, especially since producer James Blum mentioned that it would be the last Insidious movie that people are gonna be getting in a while.

People haven’t lost hope though, especially because of the end credits scene in the film, which you’ll have to watch for yourself to understand. But in the meantime, here are some other horror films that you can watch that have just as many horrifying characters and jumpscares as the Insidious series.

  1. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Considered to be one of the earliest found footage films, The Blair Witch Project follows a group of three student filmmakers named Heather, Michael, and Joshua that document their trip to the Black Hills. Here, they explore the woods, trying their best to find more information on the local legend of the creature that the locals refer to as the Blair Witch. 

Given its small budget, there aren’t a lot of flashy jumpscares, so it relies heavily on the acting and the atmosphere to add to the creep factor of the film.  

It quickly became a cult classic in the years to come, garnering a number of sequels afterward. Many said that the original is still the best – that the magic of the OG Blair Witch is something that simply cannot be replicated.

The Blair Witch Project had a rather low budget as compared to other big-ticket horror films on the market. The original budget was rumored to be only US$35,000 to USD$60,000. The first Insidious was shot with a budget of only USD$1.5 million. Compare that to say, The Conjuring, whose budget was USD$20 million for the first film. 

These two films prove that you don’t need a lot of money to make a good, terrifying film.

  1. Paranormal Activity (2007)

Yet another hit in the found footage film genre is the original Paranormal Activity, a film about the life of couple Micah and Katie, who had to deal with demonic happenings in their home. 

This film is the definition of a slow burn, with Micah taking a video of anything and everything, including mundane conversations with Katie, or them eating or even sleeping. As Micah grows more agitated to prove the presence of the paranormal entity, he buys a Ouija board. 

It is then that more hauntings start to occur, with the events in the house turning from kind of creepy to downright dangerous.

Similar to Insidious, the Paranormal Activity franchise continued to grow in budget with each movie that was released. While the first film was initially filmed on a budget of only USD$15, 000, the seventh most recent one (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) cost around USD$28.5 million to make. Starting with actors no one knew, the following ones soon followed beloved actors and actresses like AnnaSophia Robb and Alisha Boe.

The same can be seen in the budget growth of Insidious, with the first one costing USD$1.5 million and the most recent one shelling out USD$16 million to be made. 

Despite the low budget, Paranormal Activity isn’t short of bone-chilling moments and jumpscares akin to those found in the Insidious movies. Both films are guaranteed to make you feel terrified of anything that may go bump in the night.

  1. Mama (2013)

For the longest time, Insidious has been more than just a jumpscare-filled horror story; one reason why it’s so beloved is that it shows how strong the bonds of familial love can be against evil, as seen in how hard Dalton, Foster, and Cali’s parents fight to protect them from the creatures found within The Further.

Insidious and Mama have that aspect in common. The difference though is that Mama is a story centered around two young girls named Victoria and Lily who are found in a desolated cabin in the woods and are then placed under the care of couple Lucas and Annabel.

At first, the couple finds it hard to bond with the two girls. Having been in the woods for so long, they act more like rabid animals than they do people. But even as they start to open up toward the couple, there’s one thing stopping them from embracing their new life completely: a horrifying entity that goes by the name of ‘Mama,’ whose jealousy is sharp enough to kill. 

Serving as both a heartwarming tale of the found family division and a great display of terrifying character design, Mama is a great watch if you’re a fan of Insidious not just for the jumpscares, but for the story, too.

  1. 13 Cameras (2015)

13 Cameras is a film that holds creatures just as horrifying as those found in Insidious, only this time, they’re human. 

This film follows the relationship of two people named Ryan and Claire, a couple who are moving into a new home as they try to prepare for their new life with a baby on the way. Immediately they are put off by their landlord, Gerald, who exudes a terrible odor as well as an unsettling vibe. 

What Claire and Ryan don’t know though is that Gerald has installed several hidden cameras throughout their house, watching their every move and growing more and more obsessed with them as time passes. 

This film may not have haunted houses or screaming ghouls, but Gerald’s on-screen presence is terrifying to watch all the same. It plays into the fear that many people have: that unknowingly, you are constantly being watched. Every move you make, every gross thing you do that you nonchalantly disregard because you think you’re the only one that can see it, that unknown presence can see it too.

With the Insidious series, each film ends with one promise: the horror that the Lambert family has faced is far from over. In 13 Cameras, the same promise – only this time alluding to Gerald’s obsessive nature of terrorizing his tenants – rings true. In these films, what you get is far from a happy ending.

  1. Lights Out (2016)

Based on the short film released back in 2013 of the same name, Lights Out is a film that centers around the life of Rebecca and her family: her younger half-sibling Martin and her mother, Sophie. After the sudden, unexpected death of her stepfather Paul, Rebecca and her family start to get haunted by a malevolent entity – the very same one believed to have killed Paul.

Rebecca has to then deal not only with the death of her father and with the growing presence of this entity but also with the unstableness of her mother, suddenly having to move back home to care for her brother and stand as the head of the household. 

As the family realizes that they have no choice but to fight back against this monster, they find that the only thing they have to protect them is light, as the figure can only attack in complete darkness.

James Wan, the director of the first few Insidious films, produced Lights Out, and touches of his style are evident in the way that the film is made. As per the words of filmmaker and senior writer for Collider Samuel Williamson, “It looks about as shiny as all James Wan productions do,” further stating that there is a certain type of horror to be expected from him. 

If you’re looking for the jumpscares and terrifying faces of monsters akin to those in Insidious, this film should be your go-to. 

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