Metro Manila, Philippines – The “Insidious” franchise is entering a new chapter as original filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell hand the reins to director Jacob Chase for “Insidious: Out of the Further,” which opens in Philippine cinemas on Aug. 19.
The latest installment moves away from the franchise’s familiar characters and introduces a new family facing a threat that changes the rules of The Further, the dark realm inhabited by wandering souls.
The film follows Gemma, played by “The Haunting of Hill House” actor Amelia Eve, a young mother raising her daughter in her childhood home who discovers she has the ability to enter The Further.
But Gemma soon learns that her connection to the realm works both ways. She can bring objects from The Further into the physical world, opening a path that demons can also exploit to cross into reality.
Whannell, who wrote the original “Insidious” and directed “Insidious: Chapter 3,” said the concept takes one of the franchise’s fundamental rules in a new direction.
“When James and I built the Further, the one rule was that you went there in spirit, never in body,” Whannell said.
“What Jacob found was the scariest question we’d never asked: what if something could actually make the trip both ways? That cracks the whole world open.”
Wan said the new film pushes the supernatural realm further into the physical world than previous installments.
“The Further is now leaking—escaping into our real world,” Wan said. “That’s something we’ve never seen to this extent.”
“We’ve seen premonitions or glimpses of the Further bleeding into our world, but never to the extent where they take physical form.”
Wan, who remains a producer, said he encouraged Chase to put his own stamp on the franchise while staying true to the world established by the earlier films.
“I say to all my directors that come and play in these franchises, ‘Here is the sandbox. Stay within the sandbox, but within it, do whatever you want,’” he said.
For Chase, the film’s story also has a personal foundation.
The writer-director said he developed the project while preparing to become a father and drew on his own fears about parenthood.
“When I was writing ‘Insidious: Out of the Further,’ my wife was pregnant, and I had a deep fear about becoming a dad,” Chase said.
Tapping into that fear, he added, “was a great opportunity to start an Insidious movie from a real, personal place.”
Chase’s interest in horror dates back to his younger years, when he and his friends created haunted house attractions for charity.
“A haunted house has everything—it’s filmmaking, it’s storytelling, it’s great characters—most importantly, it’s the communal experience,” Chase said.
“There’s no better feeling than seeing someone screaming and laughing, whether they’re running out of a haunted house or in a movie theater.”
This is a news release from Columbia Pictures
