TechRadar: New 'Insidious' Movie Is Scariest Yet but a Disappointing Sequel

The reviewer, who said she was a fan of the original and of director James Wan, noted that recent horror sequels such as "Saw X" have shown how to do it right. "Insidious: Out of the Further," however, feels like an attempt to profit from the franchise without adding to it. In the film, Alice Eve plays Gemma, a young mother living in her childhood home who discovers she can travel into The Further, a purgatory-like realm of lost souls, and can bring its residents back to the real world, allowing demons to cause havoc.

TechRadar praised Eve as the best part of the movie and said she does a great job in the leading role. But the review said her strong performance cannot make up for the film's flaws. The makeup and special effects look cheap and unconvincing, the story is boring and feels tacked on, and the movie stuffs in too much new lore. The film is genuinely scary, with many loud jump scares, but the review argues that being startling does not make it a good movie.

The review also said the new entry does not compare with recent well-received horror hits such as "Obsession" and "Backrooms," even though it comes from the same producers, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. For viewers who simply want to be startled, TechRadar recommends seeing it with a crowd and warns against buying popcorn. But it calls the film an unnecessary addition to the franchise and suggests that after 16 years, it may be time to end the series.