Top 10 Scariest Moments in the Insidious Franchise
#10: Baby Monitor
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“Insidious” (2010) Baby monitors are one of those innocuous, everyday things that we look at a little differently thanks to horror movies like “Insidious.” Parents Josh and Renai Lambert have enough on their plate with their infant daughter Cali when their oldest son Dalton falls into a paranormally-induced coma. While keeping an eye on the kiddos, Renai starts picking up an inexplicable voice coming through on the baby monitor. It’s terrifying enough to think a stranger might be alone with your baby, but Renai goes from unnerved to alarmed when an unmistakable shriek emanates from the other side. There’s no one in the room this time, but the same isn’t true the next time we see her check on the baby.
#9: Car Crash
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“Insidious: Chapter 3” (2015) Poor Quinn Brenner really gets put through the ringer in this prequel. And it all starts with her flunking the audition for her dream school. As if her day couldn’t get any worse, Quinn starts getting haunted by a malevolent spirit who waves to her in the street. Thoroughly creeped out, all Quinn can do is stop and stare before she’s suddenly run over. It’s definitely not the way we expect an “Insidious” movie to start, but Quinn’s nightmare is only beginning. She’s put into immediate emergency surgery, and while she’s under, she gets an even closer look at the so-called Man Who Can’t Breathe. Yeah, that wouldd be enough to jolt us back awake, too.
#8: Unpacking Scares
“Insidious: The Last Key” (2018) The prequels to the “Insidious” movies put a greater emphasis on paranormal investigator Elise Rainier. But “The Last Key” is an even more personal journey for her as she returns to her childhood home and uncovers a dark secret. After discovering that her father and the current owner of the house had been kidnapping women, Elise’s investigation leads her into the house’s pipes where she finds several suitcases filled with skeletal remains. From here, the scene does a good job faking out the audience as it braces for a jumpscare. Elise too is on edge, consistently checking her twelve and six. But when the demon Key Face appears from one of the suitcases, we can’t help but scream.
#7: Bedroom Visit
“Insidious: Chapter 3” (2015) Remember when we mentioned Quinn getting put through the ringer in this movie? This is what we were talking about. Stuck in bed with two broken legs, Quinn’s video call with a friend goes from creepy to terrifying when the Man Who Can’t Breathe shows up in her bedroom. It starts with a simple curtain scare, but things go from bad to worse when the demon flings her off the bed like a ragdoll. Now with a neck injury to boot, Quinn has to wait for help to arrive. In the meantime, the demon makes itself right at home, making Quinn’s bedroom nice and dark before delivering one last scare.
#6: “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”
“Insidious” (2010) This scene is a brilliant progression of chills. It starts with Renai doing chores around the house when - WAIT, is that a ghost boy in the corner?? When Renai goes outside to take out the trash, she peers back inside to see the mysterious boy dancing to the Tiny Tim song “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” From there, Renai gets the haunted tour of her own home as she follows the Dancing Boy around. Some creepy giggling and one inexplicably rocking horse later and we are thoroughly creeped out, but the big scare comes when Renai investigates Dalton’s dresser. Yeah, it would seem it’s not the house that’s haunted.
#5: Tin Can Phones
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“Insidious: Chapter 2” (2013) A lot of us loved playing with tin can phones when we were kids. So leave it to “Insidious” to ruin our childhoods with this terrifying sequence. Trying to fall asleep, Dalton is greeted by the tinny voice of his brother Foster. Only he soon learns it’s not Foster on the other end. Dalton is petrified to follow the string to the nearby closet, and even more so when it goes all taut. But we’re the ones left screaming when a young girl emerges from it at full sprint. The scene already trumps our worst childhood nightmares, but it gets worse when Dalton is greeted by numerous other spirits to boot. Yeah, we would never sleep in that room again.
#4: Searching the Further
“Insidious” (2010) “Insidious’s” flagship nightmare zone, the Further seeps spookiness from design alone. When Josh ventures into the dimension to find Dalton, he’s greeted with a slew of terrifying sights, starting in the living room where he comes upon a twisted sort of ghostly still life. Only the ghosts aren’t so still after all. From there, Josh has to grapple with Cali’s nighttime visitor before going through the red door, which marks the lair of the Lipstick-face Demon. There, Josh indeed finds Dalton, but the demon is quick to prove why it is the franchise’s most recognizable villain.
#3: The Ending
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“Insidious” (2010) Before Josh and Dalton can fully make it out of the Further in the first film, Josh is confronted by the Bride in Black, who has been secretly haunting him all his life. While at first it seems like he and Dalton make it out unscathed, Elise can sense something is wrong. She takes a picture of Josh without warning, causing him to fly into a frenzy and strangle her to death. It’s a shocking ending, but it gets even more so when Renai discovers the cause of Josh’s actions. Examining Elise’s camera, Renai sees not Josh in the photo, but the Bride in Black, as he was possessed before crossing back over to the other side.
#2: “Don’t You Dare”
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“Insidious: Chapter 2” (2013) Poor Renai. She really can’t find a moment of solace when she’s home alone in these movies. And here she gets the worst of it. Following up on the previous film, “Chapter 2” further explores the history of the Bride in Black aka Parker Crane and his mother Michelle. Michelle terrorizes both Renai and Cali, starting with an eerie rendition of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” before continuing with some more baby monitor shenanigans. Renai immediately flies into a panic when she can’t find Cali, but she gets an even ruder awakening when she finds the ghostly Michelle instead.
#1: Lipstick Demon Jumpscare
“Insidious” (2010) Clearly, the “Insidious” movies have some of the best jumpscares in the business. But arguably none come close to when we get our first good look at the Lipstick-face Demon. We don’t expect a major scare here, as Josh’s mother Lorraine relates to them in the middle of the day a dream she had. Sure, the flashes of the dream we get are creepy enough, including when we see the demon in the corner of Dalton’s room. But just when we think we’re out of the woods, Lorraine looks over at Josh and sees it. The quietness and the staging of the scene leading up to the big scare are perfectly executed, making us leap straight out of our seats. And now with the release of the final chapter on July 7, it’s time to scream all over again.
