Sometimes when you reach five films of your franchise, you realize you should have quit while you were ahead.

“Insidious: The Red Door” is the fifth installment of the “Insidious” franchise, and a direct sequel to 2013’s “Chapter 2” (“Chapter 3” was actually a prequel, as was 2018’s “The Skeleton Key”). Patrick Wilson reprises his leading role while also making his directorial debut, while Ty Simpkins and Rose Byrne also return and original director James Wan serves as a producer. In the film, the Lambert family, having elected to have the horrifying events of the previous films wiped from their memories, begin to experience demonic happenings (again; some people can’t catch a break).

I haven’t seen the two prequels, but I really enjoy the first two “Insidious” films. James Wan isn’t my favorite director ever, but I really appreciate his ability to just go absolutely nuts with his movies, especially in the climax, and that is something missing in “The Red Door.” No direct shots against rookie Patrick Wilson, he’s not given much of a story to work with, but it’s clear from the opening scene that this was a franchise best left as a relic of the 2010s.

As an actor, Patrick Wilson is possibly one of our more underrated talents. He can be funny, charming, dramatic, or intimidating (there is a shot in the second film where he lets a devilish grin creep upon his face and it gave me a chill). He’s serviceable here, though you can tell he takes a little bit of time easing into being an actor-director, with his attention seemingly elsewhere. Ty Simpkins, a child actor I loved in “Iron Man 3,” is fine, as he was in last year’s “The Whale,” but he took some time off acting after “Jurassic World” in 2015 to be a kid for a while and he, too, is still shaking off some rust. Rose Byrne is essentially a glorified cameo, but she’s as lovely and effective as always.

The real issue here is the story, or really lack thereof. Simpkins goes off to college to study art, where he draws a picture that sets the whole plot in motion, but that is really all that the movie does with that. He then spends time with his roommate (Sinclair Daniel, who is introduced in the the cringiest way possible) and they crash a frat party and hang out in the dark. I know it’s a horror movie so we’re going for spooky vibes, but I like to see what is transpiring on-screen when I’m watching a movie, plus the film goes out of its way to introduce a plot point about Simpkins being afraid of the dark just to ignore it unless the plot needs it for a sequence, so half the film being dimly lit makes no sense (the transformers blow at least twice, someone should sue that university).

Wilson shows some promise as a dramatic director (the film deals with themes of loss of a parent, divorce, and strained relationship with one’s kids), and it’s a good thing he has a small handle on those because the entire first act of this scary movie has exactly zero (0) attempts at scares (I checked my watch; first jump scare comes at the 32-minute mark). The rest of the bump-in-the-night moments are either been there/done that or incredibly telegraphed, until we get to an “Evil Dead”-wannabe climax that is more nonsensical and stupid than it is creepy and unhinged.

“Insidious: The Red Door” is the worst thing a movie can be: boring. Sure, there are worse movies out there, as well as ones that were made with less passion or interest, but unlike a bad action film or dumb comedy, a bad horror movie is probably the genre I am least-forgiving with. I saw this at 1 in the afternoon so maybe checking it out in a crowded 9pm theater or with the lights off at home would provide a little bit of ambiance, but from where I stand now I can firmly say it’s time we slam the door shut on the “Insidious” franchise.

Critics Rating: 3/10