The claws are out in the r/horror subreddit as Insidious is compared unfavorably to The Conjuring, the former of which came out three years prior to the latter. Right now, Insidious: The Red Door is chugging along with $64 million at the box office, already well on track to reach (and perhaps even surpass) the $160 million range of its predecessors, namely Insidious: Chapter 2 and Insidious: The Last Key.
There are naysayers who would claim Insidious to be a carbon copy of The Conjuring, but Redditors were standing in their masses to oppose the unpopular opinion. According to the post below, Insidious isn’t as scary as The Conjuring because the entire franchise is PG-13, where the latter is rated R. Then, OP continues to bash Insidious‘ main antagonist, the Lipstick-Faced Demon, in favor of The Conjuring Universe’s Valak, Annabelle, Crooked Man, and more.
It wasn’t long before hardcore Insidious defenders came out of the woodwork with contradicting evidence. Firstly, u/gothoppossum shut down the claims of Insidious copying The Conjuring by stating that the former released in 2010, whereas the latter didn’t come out until 2013.
Several comments joined the thread to also point out that James Wan directed both Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2 as well as The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2. He relinquished directorial duties for Insidious to Saw star Leigh Whannell, then Adam Robitel, and finally, his lead star Patrick Wilson. As for The Conjuring, Michael Chaves took over for the threequel.
Wan also directed the original Saw, so he’s established a real name for himself as a horror legend. For that same reason, should we feel such an excessive need to compare his greatest works?
Then, there’s the matter of rating. Although Insidious might be PG-13, the decision to lower the age restrictions has allowed the Insidious franchise to consistently sell tickets across all five installments. Although The Conjuring movies, overall, made more money at the box office, the Insidious franchise has remained far more consistent, especially compared to the likes of Annabelle and The Nun.
Although Insidious: The Red Door isn’t sitting well with critics, neither did The Conjuring 3, but Wan’s expansive horror multiverse continues to make history, so we’ll consider Insidious and The Conjuring as the horror equivalent to Marvel and DC. You can choose a side, but ultimately, most people like both.