‘Insidious: Out of the Further’ review: Predictable horror sequel will put you to sleep

In the final clash of “Insidious: Out of the Further,” the sixth film in the horror franchise that makes the dead into goofy Victorian dolls, the characters must find a red door.

I, too, thought a lot about doors during the movie — particularly my desire to walk out of the nearest one.

Not because I was too frightened to remain in my seat. No, no, no. Rather the dum-dum second half of director Jacob Chase’s paranormal schlep, when a mother fights to stop the latest Freddy Krueger ripoff, is positively somnambulic. 

It sure was for the man behind me, whose loud snores suggested he was deep in an REM cycle. Much like the forgettable movie’s imperiled heroes are at their most vulnerable.

“Six” trudges back into the world of the Further — an astral limbo between earth and the afterlife that a select few can visit while asleep. You know you’re in the Further because somebody flipped the Party City fog machine on.

One of those special people — called “travelers” in this overly term-y series — is Gemma, who suffered a tragic loss as a little girl in 1999 when her disturbed mom bashed her own head in against the bathroom tile. It was the year of Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and poor Gemma was livin’ la vida trauma.

Twenty years later, adult Gemma (Amelia Eve) has a nine-year-old daughter named Maya (Island Austin) and is perplexingly still in the same messed-up house. The screenplay unconvincingly tries to bat this choice away. She inherited it and it’s a perfectly fine home despite her mother offing herself in the tub. Why wouldn’t she stay put in his hellhole? 

Gemma works as a dentist, and can surely afford an abode that doesn’t look like the Brady Bunch became hoarders. But brightly lit downtown condos don’t tingle the spine.

After three old freaks who could be Riff Raff, Magenta and Columbia from “Rocky Horror” in retirement start stalking Gemma, she begins having horrible nightmares featuring her dead mother and myriad highway theme-park ghouls. 

She’s gone back… to the Further! 

There are two sequences that are scaryish. When Gemma crawls into a dark pillow fort that she thinks Maya is hiding out in, the tunnels keep infinitely extending and she can’t escape. Then Marilyn Manson chases her around with a “Deliverance” grin.  

Later, Riff Raff shows up again at her dental practice and she gives him a stomach-churning cleaning. That’s a good idea. Our fear of teeth and the judgmental people who drill them isn’t taken advantage of much in horror films. “Insidious” could’ve pushed the incisors even further.

Unfortunately after that the plot kicks in.

The spirit of the psychic Elise (Lin Shaye), who died at the end of the first film, hops into the mind of a tattoo artist (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) — like Whoopi Goldberg’s medium in “Ghost” except bad — and informs Gemma she must thwart a Heaven’s Gate-y cult leader in the Further named Cyrus.

While alive, Cyrus, who could front a Black Sabbath cover band, promised his bald, orange-clad followers that he could bring them back from the grave someday. Gemma is the secret weapon who can make that happen.

At this point, my brow began to cramp from aggressive furrowing.   

I’m no “Insidious” scholar. So, although the tattoo artist used inked oranges and a homemade cardboard diorama to demonstrate the elaborate plan to beat Cyrus, nothing made much sense to me.

I couldn’t really discern the villain’s goal. Do they want to take over the world? Enjoy delicious pizza? 

When the Further corpses come back to our plane of existence, they’re still evil marionettes. Nothing’s changed except no more Halloween store fog. What’s the point?

Raw thrills, visual or psychological, would be fine if they didn’t come alongside so many gobbledygook explainers. Trying to pump logic into this is foolish and tiresome. 

In the final sequence, Gemma has a totally obvious revelation about her awful childhood memory that reminds her of the power of maternal love and gives her the strength to complete her mission. 

It’s as predictable and easy an ending as can be. But at least we know the door awaits.