Insidious is a horror movie franchise from one of the biggest names in contemporary horror, James Wan. Before the director created The Conjuring cinematic universe, he was diving into the Further, a place between Heaven and hell, and the Lambert family. Insidious is a very different type of movie from The Conjuring, even if Patrick Wilson stars in both, but they have one more thing in common: they are pretty scary.
One of the franchise's highlights is that some inventive demons and entities terrorize the audience just as much as the characters. Because the Further is somewhere that feels like purgatory but looks very different and is unique to these movies, the creatures that live there had to be the same. With a new movie coming out this year, Insidious: The Red Door, it's a good time to remember the demons in the franchise since the first movie came out in 2014.
Here is more about all the demons in the Insidious movies — their appearances, backgrounds, and goals.
6 The Doll Girl
There are a lot of demons and spirits that live in the Further. One of them appears in the first Insidious movie and is Doll Girl (Kelly Devoto). Doll Girl is alongside her family, all wearing clothes and makeup from the 1950s. The Doll Girl, and her family, are trapped in the Further, doomed to relive their deaths: she killed them with a shotgun.
Josh (Patrick Wilson) encounters them when he first enters the Further, and when asking questions about what's happening, she doesn't answer, so there isn't much information about them or why she killed her family.
5 The Long-haired Fiend
The Long-haired Fiend (J. LaRose), also known as The Ghoul, is a minor character and demon, as he only appeared three times in the movies. Nevertheless, he is pretty scary and is responsible for a few jump scares. His face is similar to a decomposing corpse.
There is very little information about him, as he attacked the Lambert Family on only a few occasions. He serves more of a purpose similar to Doll Girl as they exemplify the type of malicious demons that live in the Further. Also, The Long-haired Fiend, like most of the demons on this list, only waits for an opportunity to come out of the Further by any means.
4 The Key Bearar
The Key Bearer (Javier Botet), also known as KeyFace, had a later entry in the franchise than most demons. He appeared in the latest installment of Insidious: The Last Key, which came out in 2018. The Key Bearer is the main antagonist of the movie.
The demon has a specific goal: to make others feel pain. He feeds off the negative emotions that arise on those occasions. He is highly malicious and likes to keep spirits traps as pets. The demon has an affinity for clairvoyants, targeting Elise (Lin Shaye) and her niece Imogen (Caitlin Gerard). His mission is to "open doors" in the Further, and each door leads to a new entity — generating a lot of control on the Further.
3 The Wheezing Demon
The Wheezing Demon (Michael Reid MacKay) is one of the worst demons in the franchise. Not only is he scary, but what he does to the people he targets is horrible. He is the main antagonist of Insidious: Chapter 3, when he first appeared in the franchise. The Wheezing Demon looks like a highly sick hospital patient: he uses a hospital gown and an oxygen mask.
This demon likes the possessed humans and tries to make them commit suicide. When he achieves this, their souls end up in the darkness — forever. Like the Key Bearer, he likes to keep the souls he collects as pets. He is one of the most powerful demons of the franchise, as he can control and possess humans, create illusions, move objects, and shapeshift to look like people his victims love.
2 The Bride in Black
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The Bride in Black (Philip Friedman) has a dark history, as the demon was once human. The demon's real name was Parker Crane. Parker had a difficult childhood and upbringing, as his mentally ill mother (who appears as a ghost called The Woman in White, played by Danielle Bisutti) didn't get along with his father. So much so that she hated the name Parker because it reminded her of him.
His mother called her son Marylin and raised him (dressing etc.) as if he was a girl. Dealing with his toxic and mentally troubled mother led him to create an alter ego: a woman dressed in black. Using his anger and psychopathic desires, he dressed as his alter ego to lure and kill women. He lives in the Further and finds the perfect opportunity to leave again when Josh begins to astral project himself, targeting him since he was a young boy. The Bride in Black is the main antagonist of Insidious: Chapter 2 and an important one in the series.
1 The Lipstick Face Demon
The Lipstick Face Demon (Joseph Bishara) is the main antagonist of the Insidious franchise. A mighty demon is a part of one of the most loved jump scares in recent horror movie history. The Lipstick Face Demon rules the Further. He wants to possess Dalton's physical body. Once he has someone, he uses his powers to hurt others that might try to stop him. One example of how he does that is he throws people across the room with his powers.
His background is more in tune with the Catholic religion than the others, as he was an angel that rebelled against God and was expelled from Heaven. He fell and ended up in the Further, where he was the most powerful demon and therefore took over.