Danger All Around

Abstract

This chapter explores marriage and memory in Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2. It follows Josh’s relationship with the women in his life—his wife, Renai, mother Lorraine, and the psychic Elise—and how his repressed memories contribute to his toxic masculinity. The chapter also explores Renai’s character arc across both films by noting her shared selfhood as wife and mother then caretaker in the first film to a more active character in the second film that stands up to her husband. It argues that Dalton’s possession in the first film and Josh’s possession in the second force Josh to become a more involved husband and parent to save his son and self. The chapter also discusses the use of houses and house imagery in both films, arguing that, unlike Amityville, because the house is not haunted the homes function as unstable points for the characters.