How To Watch The Insidious Movies Before The Red Door

As "Insidious: The Red Door" takes audiences on another horrifying adventure into the Further, there's no better time to get caught up on one of the scariest horror franchises in recent years. However, with the series' fifth movie releasing in a matter of days, many may want to know how to catch up before "The Red Door."

Unfortunately, the "Insidious" movies don't lend themselves to easy viewing, as the series' release order doesn't reflect the story's chronological order. If you're settling down for an "Insidious" watch party, you'll want to start with "Insidious: Chapter 3." The third installment serves as a prequel to the first two films, shifting the focus to demonologist Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) three years before she meets the Lambert family. From there, move on to its sequel, "Insidious: The Last Key," continuing Elise's story as the psychic investigates a haunting in her childhood home.

Afterward, the franchise will take audiences back to its roots, with the original "Insidious" happening next in the "Insidious" timeline. From there, watch "Insidious: Chapter 2," and you'll be all caught up for "Insidious: The Red Door," which serves as a direct sequel to "Chapter 2."

As if the "Insidious" franchise's chronological order wasn't confusing enough, streaming every movie in the series isn't as easy as booting up Max. 

To begin a binge of the "Insidious" franchise in preparation for "Insidious: The Red Door," fans will first head over to Tubi, where they can stream "Insidious: Chapter 3" for free. Things get a little complicated here, as "Insidious: The Last Key" isn't available on any streaming services. Instead, fans will need to rent the movie, which is available on Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, and other movie rental services. Thankfully, after "The Last Key," fans can conveniently head over to Max, where Warner Bros. Discovery's newest streaming service features both "Insidious" and "Insidious: Chapter 2" in its library. From there, fans will be caught up on the "Insidious" franchise, just in time for "The Red Door." 

Despite its recent focus on prequels, which convoluted the series' watch order, the latest installment shifts the focus back to the Lambert family, with Josh (Patrick Wilson), Renai (Rose Byrne), and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) all returning. Of course, franchise staple piece Lin Shaye is also back, and producer Jason Blum credits Wilson, who also directed "The Red Door," for getting everyone back on board. "It was his idea to bring the original cast back for The Red Door and as much as I wish I could say I could have done that, I tried to do it on [Insidious] 3 and 4 in various ways and failed terribly," he told IGN. "So, Rose [Byrne] would say no to me, but she would say yes to Patrick."