There are so many exciting horror franchises returning to the big screen in 2023. While Scream and Evil Dead are the most notable, another spooky series haunting our lives once more is Insidious with Insidious: Fear the Dark. The fifth installment, directed by franchise star Patrick Wilson, debuts in July and to coincide with the new film, Sony has announced they will be releasing the original Insidious directed by horror legend James Wan on 4K for the first time.
This 4K edition comes in the form of a new steelbook featuring the film’s original poster art of then unknown Ty Simpkins staring menacingly through our helpless souls. The release will include all the previous Blu-ray special features like “Horror 101: The Exclusive Seminar”, “On Set with Insidious“, and “Insidious Entities.”
What’s Insidious About?
When Insidious released in 2010, it revitalized the haunted house sub-genre. The film followed the Lambert family, headed by husband and wife, Josh (Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne), who go through the classic set up of moving to a new house only for it to be extremely haunted. However, demons aren’t the worst problem as their son Dalton (Simpkins) quickly falls into a coma which leads the Lambert’s to rediscover dark secrets from Josh’s past.
While Wan is better known for films like Saw, The Conjuring, or Malignant, this heightened supernatural thrill ride is among his best. Insidious is so visually frightening and creative with incredibly dark themes that will make you internally scream. This is an arthouse frightfest and one of the scariest films ever made. It also helped kick off the “elevated horror” era with films like It Follows, The Babadook, and Conjuring quickly releasing soon after. It also had a good sense of humor to it and characters like Lin Shaye’s Elise have become beloved in the horror community. This film kicked off one of the most successful horror series in history with the franchise grossing over $500 million worldwide across its first four films. Plus, in terms of quality, this has been one of the better modern genre franchises.
Fear the Dark & the Return of the Lambert Family
The upcoming installment Fear the Dark will be a legacy sequel to the franchise and will feature the Lambert Family in main roles for the first time since Insidious: Chapter 2 in 2013. The film will see Dalton in college, ten years after the original, still dealing with the repressed demons of his past. Wilson, Byrne, and Simpkins will all be returning for the fifth installment.
Insidious: Fear the Dark is releasing in theaters on July 7, 2023, and will be the first entry in the franchise since Insidious: The Last Key in 2018. While horror fans anxiously wait for the franchise’s big screen resurrection, Insidious’ 4K UHD steelbook will be released on June 20, 2023. Just in time for your Insidious marathon before the new movie. The trailer for Insidious can be viewed down below if you dare.
