History YMMV / Insidious

* AntiClimaxBoss: The Red-Faced Demon is feared by Elise for his OffStageVillainy but what we actually see of Red Face is that he can someones take control of Dalton and perform telekinesis and that he is very close to possessing his physical body. Besides that, when Red Face gets beaten, Dalton and Josh manage to outrun him and don't even have to fight him head on so we don't get much of an idea of the demon's combat expertise. For [[InformedAbility how hyped up]] Red Face is, he only controls Dalton intermittently, and is ultimately defeated by...being trapped behind a door.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Just how villainous is Red Face? Elise loathes his presence but all we see is that he wants to [[WouldHurtAChild possess Dalton's child body]] and later his adult body and do ''something'' ForTheEvulz while incarnate. Whenever someone dies in the series however, it's not by Red Face's hand but the supporting villains of The Further. Red Face even has a bizarre liking for Dalton and presumably Josh as he wants to keep Dalton inside his lair and even set up displays of Mannequins resembling Josh and Dalton performing historic moments in his lair like a StalkerWithoutACrush with a fascination for the duo.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Just how villainous is Red Face? Elise loathes his presence but all we see is that he wants to [[WouldHurtAChild possess Dalton's child body]] and do ''something'' ForTheEvulz. Whenever someone dies in the series, it's not by Red Face's hand but the supporting villains of The Further. Red Face even has a bizarre liking for Dalton and presumably Josh as he wants to keep Dalton inside his lair and even set up displays of Mannequins resembling Josh and Dalton performing historic moments in his lair like he's their biggest fans.

* FanNickname: The Lipstick-Faced Demon has a preferred alternative name of Red Face Demon or less frequently "The Man with the Fire in His Face" as they sound more menacing and match his threat level.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Just how villainous is Red Face? Elise loathes his presence but all we see is that he wants to [[WouldHurtAChild possess Dalton's child body]] and do ''something'' ForTheEvulz. Whenever someone dies in the series, it's not by Red Face's hand but the supporting villains of The Further. Red Face even has a bizarre liking for Dalton and presumably Josh as he wants to keep Dalton inside his lair and even set up displays of Mannequins resembling Josh and Dalton performing historic moments in his lair.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Just how villainous is Red Face? Elise loathes his presence but all we see is that he wants to [[WouldHurtAChild possess Dalton's child body]] and do ''something'' ForTheEvulz. Whenever someone dies in the series, it's not by Red Face's hand but the supporting villains of The Further. Red Face even has a bizarre liking for Dalton and presumably Josh as he wants to keep Dalton inside his lair and even set up a displays of Mannequins resembling Josh and Dalton performing historic moments in his lair.

** The demon himself can be this, due in no small part to his more-than-passing resemblance to [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Darth Maul]] in a bad toupee. The stereotypical demon hooves might also come across as cheesy.

* {{Narm}}: The whole idea of "possession changes your DNA" in ''Chapter 2'' can come across as ''very'' convenient for proving that someone is innocent of a murder, potentially making a viewer break into laughter. The suspect in question doesn't have even the slightest inconvenience after that.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Gerald Rainier stands out for his child abuse which he gets away with partly by hiding behind his executioner position at his prison. He is implied to be variably possessed by Key Face, but some of his original personality seems to already be abusive as it is. It's little wonder his children move on and almost pretend he didn't exist.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Gerald Rainier stands out for his child abuse which he gets away with partly by hiding behind his executioner position at his prison. He only becomes possessed by Key Face later on, but he doesn't need possession to be a hypocritical child abuser who essentially strikes and forces Elise into solitary confinement over her ability to see and communicate with the dead. It's little wonder his children move on and almost pretend he didn't exist.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Gerald Rainier stands out for his child abuse which he gets away with partly by hiding behind his executioner position at the prison. He only becomes possessed by Key Face later on, but he doesn't need possession to be a hypocritical child abuser who essentially strikes and forces Elise into solitary confinement over her ability to see and communicate with the dead. It's little wonder his children move on and almost pretend he didn't exist.

** To ''Film/Poltergeist1982'' and ''Film/PoltergeistIITheOtherSide'' with the first film covering Dalton's rescue from The Further, similar to Carol Anne being abducted to The Other Side. Like ''Poltergeist II'', the Lamberts move into a relative's home to escape their trauma, but find no respite and have to confront the spirits who have followed them. Notably, ''Film/PoltergeistIII'' is analogous to ''The Red Door'' with Dalton moving away from home to move on with his life, but still having to face the Red-faced Demon decisively, just like Carol Anne has to face Reverend Kane.

** To ''Film/Poltergeist1982'' and ''Film/PoltergeistIITheOtherSide'' with the first film covering Dalton's rescue from The Further, similar to Carol Anne being abducted to The Other Side. Like ''Poltergeist II'', the Lamberts move into a relative's home to escape their trauma, but find no respite and have to confront the spirits who have followed them.

* FanNickname: The Lipstick-Faced Demon has a preferred alternative name of Red-Faced Demon or less frequently "The Man with the Fire in His Face" as they sound more menacing and match his threat level.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/Poltergeist1982'' and ''Film/PoltergeistIITheOtherSide'' with the first film covering Dalton's rescue from The Further, similar to Carol Anne being abducted to The Other Side. Like ''Poltergeist II'', the Lamberts move into a relative's home to escape their trauma, but find no respite and have to confront the spirits who have followed them.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Even though ''The Last Key'' received largely negative reviews from critics, they praised Lin Shaye's performance.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Renai in ''The Red Door''. After Josh and Dalton were made to forget the events of the first two films, she spent the next decade hiding the truth from Josh and Dalton, [[EmptyShell even though it left Josh in a depressed state]] and caused a rift between him and Dalton. She did nothing to help Josh or fix the family, and eventually divorced him due to the stress, even then not giving the truth. When Josh confronts her about this, [[NeverMyFault she even has the gall to get angry at ''Josh'' for putting her through something he had no control over]], and very clearly puts most of the blame on him for why their family fell apart. By the end, it's made clear that all of this could have been avoided if Renai just told Josh and Dalton the truth when things started going bad.

** Despite some critiques due to TooDumbToLive moments, Josh as well. He's a {{Deconstruction}} of the typical horror movie father: He's shown as very worried about what's wrong with his son, and when it comes to the supernatural aspects, he obviously dismisses them. But when he realizes they are true, he's willing to go with it, mainly because he wants to see his son again. The revelation that [[spoiler: Parker Crane was constantly following him all his life, and then trapping him in the Further]] makes him more of a Woobie.

* {{Narm}}:

** The whole idea of "possession changes your DNA" in ''Chapter 2'' can come across as ''very'' convenient for proving that someone is innocent of a murder, potentially making a viewer break into laughter. The suspect in question doesn't have even the slightest inconvenience after that.
** [=KeyFace=] may come across as comical due to his method of inserting a key into people's necks to shut them up and then another into their chest to knock them out. Similar to the Long-Haired Fiend, he gets blown away like a cheap rag doll, by a lantern.
* NightmareRetardant:
** The viral marketing for the movie had an AlternateRealityGame called [[http://voicefromthefurther.com/ Voice From The Further]], about a blog maintained by a woman who also mysteriously fell into a coma as a small child and is now trying to discover what happened to her. Some parts are genuinely creepy, mentioning ill-spirited ghosts and figures like the Redfaced Man, but then let down by obvious Photoshop jobs and amateur video. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVc4MyBuCPk&feature=player_embedded Case in point]].
** Some people thought the gas mask was funny rather than eerie, same with the little dancing kid.
** One of the film's big scary moments is supposed to be when Josh discovers Dalton imprisoned in the Further with the demon, but since the demon has a penchant for listening to Tiny Tim, his infernal lair looks like the set of a Meatloaf video, and he's first properly shown cheerfully sharpening his claws while listening to his favorite tune. It can come across like the demon was expecting visitors and put on a cheesy display to look like a demon super villain to impress Josh.
** The demon himself can be this, due in no small part to his more-than-passing resemblance to [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Darth Maul]] in a bad toupee. The stereotypical demon hooves might also come across as cheesy.
** Also, the Long-Haired Fiend guarding the door to the Red-Faced Demon's lair isn't so bad once you get a pep talk, and unleash a ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' move on him. He's basically just some buff dude with a lot of makeup on and both of his most significant scenes in either movie end with him getting his ass kicked, bringing to mind a WWE Heel Jobber.

** Also, the demon guarding the door to the Red-Faced Demon's lair isn't so bad once you get a pep talk, and unleash a ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' move on him. He's basically just some buff dude with a lot of makeup on and both of his most significant scenes in either movie end with him getting his ass kicked, bringing to mind a WWE Heel Jobber.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/Poltergeist1982'' and ''Film/PoltergeistIITheOtherSide'' with the first film covering Dalton's rescue from The Further (similar to Carol Anne being abducted to The Otherside. Like ''Poltergeist II'', the Lamberts move into a relative's home to escape their trauma, but find no respite and have to confront the spirits who have followed them.

** [=KeyFace=] may come across as comical due to his method of inserting a key into people's necks to shut them up and then another into their chest to knock them out. Like the Long-Haired Fiend, he also gets blown away like a cheap rag doll, by a lantern.

** The scene where a kid changes the song in the Lamberts' second home and starts running around playfully. It's supposed to be creepy, but one might wonder why Renai's first response isn't at least attempting to ask the kid if they live around here and/or why they're running around the Lamberts' home. The fact that the kid is more clearly visible, unlike most of the ghosts, stands out as well making it merely feel like a kid in the neighborhood entered the home on a dare.
** The whole idea of "possession changes your DNA" in ''Chapter 2'' can come across as ''very'' convenient for proving that someone is innocent of a murder. The suspect in question doesn't have even the slightest inconvenience after that.

** Despite some critiques due to TooDumbToLive moments, Josh as well. He's a {{Deconstruction}} of the typical horror movie father: He's shown as very worried about what's wrong with his son, and when it comes to the supernatural aspects, he obviously dismisses them. But when he realizes they are true, he's willing to go with it, mainly because he wants to see his son again. The revelation that [[spoiler: Parker Cane was constantly following him all his life, and then trapping him in the Further]] makes him more of a Woobie.