The Scene Drift

There is a visceral, tactile dread at the core of the Insidious franchise that digital trickery can never replicate. In an era where modern horror frequently retreats into the safe, sterile confines of green-screen CGI, Insidious: Out of the Further doubles down on in-camera practical nightmares: claustrophobic mazes, sickening prosthetics, and grotesque character transformations that rattle audiences to their core.

At the epicenter of this chapter is Amelia Eve (The Haunting of Bly Manor), who trades 1980s English estates for a disorienting, American-accented plunge into the darkest corridors of the Further. Ahead of the film's release, The Scene Drift sat down with Eve to discuss claustrophobic practical sets, nauseating clinic sequences, and pitching a homegrown British sequel.

Stepping Into Gemma and Snapping Accents

Having captivated horror fans with her sharp northern cadence as Jamie in Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, Eve completely disappears into Gemma, donning dark hair and an effortless American delivery. Yet despite the rigorous demands of the role, staying locked in character between takes was never the goal.

"No, I snap straight back in!" Eve laughs. "Normally I’m like, 'Jacob, what did you think? Was that good? Did you get it?' And then we’re straight back into the scene. Luckily, I really enjoy accents. Once they feel natural enough and they're in your body, you don't really think about them anymore. As soon as you step into Gemma, that voice just comes." 

 

Kirk Truman

Dance Routines and Scrappy-Doo: Demonic Chaos Behind the Scenes

While the acolytes and entities lurking in the shadows are designed to terrorize, the reality on set was defined by stark contrasts ranging from synchronized cast dance routines to endearing cast quirks.

"Joe, who plays Lester, is really on it," Eve recalls. "When he switches into character, he’s creepy as hell. He’s whispering in between takes like, 'He’s coming...' and I’m like, 'Bro, stop it, man! You’re freaking me out for real!' Whereas the ladies were so different. Susan, who plays the smaller lady, she’s kind of joined this world of things later in life. She can’t really see very well because of the contacts, so she doesn’t really know what’s going on, bless her heart. Most of the time she was just pure comedy without even meaning to be. But the second she’s crawling at you or running at you, that’s terrifying."

Then there was Brandon, whose boundless set energy earned him an affectionate cartoon moniker from Eve.

"I called him Scrappy-Doo! He wasn't in every day, so when he would come in, he was a mad ball of energy like the Tasmanian Devil. I’d be like, 'Chill buddy, chill! We've all been working six days this week, me and the crew are tired!' But he was a sweetheart, just bringing that spark to set." 

The Disgusting Dentist Scene: The Cornflake Truth

One of the most unnerving, tactile sequences in the film sees Gemma inspecting Lester's mouth up close, confronting an oral horror that looks genuinely sickening on screen. The practical reality behind the effect, however, was as funny as it was revolting.

"Dare I tell you what it was, or will it ruin it?" Eve grins. "It was mashed-up cornflakes! When I knew what it was, it was less stressful, but it still looked disgusting. And I’m still convincing myself it’s disgusting for the scene. At points Jacob’s like, 'Can you just retch a bit?' I’m like, 'I’m trying NOT to retch! Don’t tell me to retch, because I might actually vomit in his mouth!'"

The blurred boundary between horror and comedy is something Eve appreciates deeply, particularly when viewing cinema through a British lens.

"There’s a fine line between horror and comedy anyway," she notes. "Especially when British people watch it. In an American cinema, everyone experiences it out loud, screaming, shouting. Whereas in England, even if someone makes an involuntary noise, they’re like, 'Oh my God, I'm so embarrassed, I made a noise!' Everyone tries to bury themselves inward."

Claustrophobia and the Shifting Pillow Fort

For filmmaking purists, the sequence where Gemma enters the sofa fort, only for her childhood comfort zone to warp into an endless, claustrophobic tunnel stands as a triumph of practical set engineering.

"It was so impressive; it was like a literal maze that they had built on set," Eve explains. "Once you were in there, it was like a sound booth; you couldn't hear anything outside, not even action or cut. But if anyone tapped the side, it was like an echo chamber. And that moment where Gemma realizes it keeps going, looks back, and the room has turned into a tunnel? They did that in the moment. I looked one way, and whilst I was looking, they moved everything behind me. By the time I looked back, the room had just changed into a tunnel."

For Eve, the set tapped directly into childhood nostalgia:

"It was quite claustrophobic, but it was my first day of filming, so I was just buzzing! I felt like I was living out these absurd childhood dreams. I loved building pillow forts as a kid. To get to do the thing I love and play in a pillow fort for work? Wonderful."

The Emotional Core: Breaking the Survivor's Guilt

Beneath the practical jump scares and nightmare imagery, the thematic heart of the film rests on Gemma’s fraught relationship with her mother, anchored by the pivotal line, “I am not my mother.”

"For me, that was Gemma's whole arc—her whole journey," Eve reflects. "It’s a giant metaphor for the film. Realizing that all the things you might have blamed your parents for previously was really just them doing their best and trying to look out for you. Even watching it now, that moment with Laura breaks my heart every time. We’ve all had moments where we’ve been mad at our parents, feeling like they're squashing us. To have that moment where you go, 'Oh, now I realize it was because you cared for me'... it’s gut-wrenching, but in the most beautiful way." 

Pitching a British Insidious: Estates, Rahul Kohli, and Dog Packs

With British actors frequently stepping into American genre entries, the question remains: why hasn't the Further set up shop across the Atlantic? For Eve, a UK-set Insidious is ripe for exploration, ideally reuniting with her Bly Manor co-star Rahul Kohli.

"I’d like to see an Insidious set in a UK housing estate," Eve pitches. "Where multiple families engage with this other realm, exploring that sense of community and how peril either brings people together or pushes them apart. And me and Rahul are itching to work together again—it’s just a matter of time and figuring out the right project."

And should the demon Cyrus ever hunt down Eve in real life? The survival plan is already locked in, courtesy of her family business.

"My sisters, for sure. When a girl's in peril, there’s no one you can rely on better than your sisters—they will go to war for me. Me and my sisters run a dog-walking company called The Furry Dogmothers. So it would be me, my two sisters, and about 300 dogs behind us taking down Cyrus. I think we’ve got it covered. Try us!"

With authentic emotional resonance, fierce dedication to practical craft, and unmistakable charisma, Amelia Eve anchors Insidious: Out of the Further as one of the franchise's most compelling entries to date.

Insidious: Out of the Further is in theaters nationwide.