In the first Insidious, we have a young family just settling into their new home when the boy Dalton falls into an unexplained coma. We learn from a psychic that rather than a coma, Dalton has astral projected and become lost outside his body, allowing a gaggle of ghosts to come wishing to possess him.
Small Disclaimer: We do not rank the Red Faced Demon as he is not undead, but a demon, and so is disqualified from ranking.
This guy is pretty spooky. He appears quite a few times in the film, and progresses from just a normal Victorian looking man to this hellish demonic being. His spook is a 7, as the way he stalks and attacks is pretty disturbing, but his actual visual spookiness is limited.
The Long-haired Fiend is probably the second most powerful being from The Further seen in the first Insidious instalment, being able to appear physically in the living world and attack without possessing a human body. Danger is a 6.
Transform is a 4, as he often appears much like a normal guy, but has times he becomes more demonic is nature as shown.
His name is taken from the Insidious Wiki, and so there is a level of trust I am putting in here. If we believe the Wiki, this name is pretty nice. I would say a 7.
Spookiness is an 8, being creepier than The Long-haired Fiend in appearance, but not in spooky actions. They are seen much less in this first film than they are in others.
The danger will be a 5, as they are only able to attack people who are currently in The Further, or by possessing the body of a living being, not able to project themselves like the Long-haired Fiend.
Transform is less than that of the Fiend, coming off more decrepit than demonic.
The Old Woman is the name we will associate with for this first appearance, as their Bride in Black name will be saved for their next appearance. The Old Woman is weak, but not the worst name I have heard by far.
These seem to me to be less thought out, and as such less spooky. The Doll Girl herself is the main entity here, but the whole family seems to be creepy ghosts so I rank them together. Spookiness is low mid-tier, they do very little, and their main scare tactic seems to be mechanical movement which is not the best.
Danger is also low, seeming very weak when compared to past residents of The Further, never actually harming Josh or Dalton from what we know.
Transform is very low, looking completely like normal people.
Their name, which together I will consider the Doll Girl Family, is actually not bad. Probably the best part about them is their name.
The Dancing Boy is the most passive and least violent ghost in the film. He has no demonic form, and never seems to attack anyone, so his spook is simply a 2. Just creepy to see a ghost kid running around.
His danger is a 1, never hurting, nor trying to hurt anyone.
Transform is also a 1, just looking like a normal child.
His name awards him some praise, as The Dancing Boy does seem a little creepy, but is effectively a nonstarter.
We begin right where we left off as Renai is questioned by the police about Elise's death. Josh is possessed by who we knew to be "The Old Woman", and now Specs and Tucker must recruit Elise's old associate Carl to get Josh back into his body.
Because they are a single entity, I will not be ranking Josh's possession and The Bride in Black as differentiated undead. Rather, the Bride in Black resides in Josh for the majority of the film, and so they will be ranked within that context.
The aesthetic of The Bride in Black seems dialled back in this film, originally looking like a corpse, and being somewhat restrained, in her second appearance she is much more on the side of crazed maniac, and I think this was a miss-step. The abused child being forced into identifying as a child is a somewhat controversial one, but these are the things I believe horror is meant to look at, and so I find it very interesting. The Bride in Black exists mostly in Josh's body in this film, slowly making him more sickly and gaunt which was incredible to see done, and so while I do believe their spook is slightly on the lower side this iteration, it still is fairly well done.
Once more The Bride in Black is only able to utilize the body of a possessed person, and so her danger remains at a 5.
The transformation is actually lessened in this film. Although Josh's body is physically falling apart, The Bride in Black herself looks more human than in the last film.
Parker Crane is an innately scary name (sorry to any real life Parker Cranes out there) and The Bride in Black is a scarier villain name than The Old Woman. Name is raised a few points for a little bit more creativity, and a lot more spookiness.
Elise returns, now as a ghost to help out the living members of Insidious Chapter 2. She is very much not spooky, being a completely benevolent force, however her extreme power in The Further does give her a little fear inducing ability.
Elise is exceptionally powerful in The Further, most likely due to her psychic abilities, and is able to completely dispel the Long-haired Fiend when he returns, and guide Carl and Josh back to the living realm. However, she seems to have almost no power over the living realm, so she will get a 6.
Her transformation is literally nothing. She doesn't even look transparent. She is just Elise.
Her name is just (my apologies) an old lady name, and doesn't have any spooky or horror related feelings attached to it. Weak name. Sorry Elise.
This is one of the few situations in which I believe not showing the ghost would have made them scarier. Mater Mortis (Latin for Mother of Death) is Parker Crane's mother, and we do see what she looks like in the film, which honestly makes her so much less scary. She looks like a normal lady with scary makeup on. Killed the spooky vibe she gave off, and so what would have been a 10 is now a 5.
She is not super dangerous, able to affect the living world in small ways like knocking and unscrewing a chandelier, and having very little strength in The Further. Because of this she will be given a lower danger ranking.
Transform is a 1 as she looks just like a normal lady when shown.
Finally her name is a 10. Mater Mortis is an incredibly freaky name, it is fairly understandable without any Latin knowledge, and is a short alliteration. Her real name is Michelle Crane, but because she calls herself Mater Mortis and it is just so good we will ignore her real name.
Long-haired Fiend doesn't change from the first film.
We do have some more miscellaneous additions in this film that I decided were not worth ranking. The Long-haired Fiend returns, and while I love him, he really has no change from how he appears in the first film. We also see many ghost ladies, who are the victims of The Bride in Black, however they appear only for a moment and don't really feel distinct enough to rank, much like the various random ghosts seen in The Further in the first film.
A new family, specifically the daughter Quinn, is haunted by new and old ghostly foes causing Elise, Tucker and Specs join together for the first time.
Small Disclaimer: I did not rank the faceless, footless being that Quinn sees as I believe that was actually a fragment of Quinn's soul that the Wheezing Demon had claimed, and she actually doesn't die.
Firstly, the Wheezing Demon is not definitively a ghost, as in the film he is referred to as a demon like the Red Faced Demon who I did not include in the first film's ghosts. However, rather than a demonic form like the Red Faced Demon, this spirit seems to be a ghost simply called a demon, as he is fitted with a respirator and hospital gown, and looks much like a human soul in the Further. As such I am counting him as a ghost, and giving him a 9 for spook. Very creepy look, oily feet, creepy guy.
The Wheezing Demon is the most powerful ghost so far, able to throw Quinn around her room, possess her and be ignorant of any pain in her body, and physically manifest in the human world, seemingly with ease. As such he will be given a 7 in danger.
His transformation is not extreme from a normal person, but is probably the highest of the Insidious spectres.
His name, the Wheezing Demon, is decent. I would say high mid range. Wheezing is a somewhat spooky word, and Demon obviously is, but it does feel pretty lame at the same time.
Lilith is pretty spooky without even being evil. The constant rain pouring on her, and the look of complete and total fear on her face is enough for at least a 6 in spook.
Danger is 1, she never does anything but stand in the rain.
Transform is a 2 just because of her own personal rain cloud.
Name is interesting but has little meaning when connected to the Bible's origin. There, Lilith kind of became a demon for refusing subservience to Adam, as she was his first wife, and instead gets hitched with an archangel. Doesn't really fit with this lady who killed herself because of being haunted, so she gets a 3.
The Bride in Black returns with a new look and less power. Spook is further diminished due to this weird powdered wig look.
Danger is also lessened as she can now only reach Elise and only through The Further.
Transform again matches original look, even if they do not look the exact same.
Name remains the same.
The final film in the Insidious series follows Elise one last time after the Spectral Sightings crew has been adopted by her, returning to her childhood home to face the demon that unlocked her abilities, and itself.
Anna is pretty spooky, but ultimately a nice gal. She is described as "lost in The Further" being a victim of Elise's father Gerald. While not locked in a cage like the other victims of Key Face, she is still trapped in a purgatory like state. She looks pretty creepy, getting some shadowy demon-like looks to her occasionally, however redeems herself in the end. A 4 for spook.
Anna seems moderately dangerous as a ghost, able to push Elise and snatch items into The Further like Christian's whistle, I would say just slightly less dangerous when compared to say The Bride in Black as seen in the last film.
Her transformation is minimal, but has some defining changes like the aforementioned demon look occasionally, and so will be given a 2.
Anna is the only name we are given for this ghost, no last name and never referred as anything else. Anna is not a scary name. Anna gets a 2.
Gerald Rainier is Elise's abusive father and appears as a ghost near the end of the movie, as Elise is tricked into beating him to satiate Key Face. He doesn't act spooky at all in this time, but he is an imposing figure in the film and will be awarded a 3 for that.
Gerald is a nearly inept ghost. He is able to block a hit on his daughter from Key Face for a moment, however he is immediately Thanos snapped out of existence following this. 2 for blocking a demon.
He doesn't transform whatsoever and gets a 1.
Gerald is a slightly imposing name, and will be awarded a 3. Rainier adds nothing, but also doesn't take away.
Audrey Rainier appears in The Further, saving Elise and her nieces at the climax of the film. Much like her husband and daughter, she appears the exact same as she did in life, and so is not very spooky at all.
Audrey is pretty powerful! She blasts away Key Face, a demon when she is summoned, which when compared to Elise's blast of the Long-haired Fiend, she proves even stronger! She will be given a 7 in order to illustrate her increased power, but is not conventionally a 7, having no power outside of The Further.
Her transformation as mentioned is very low.
Her name Audrey is again not at all ghostly or spooky, just a old lady name like her daughter.
Key Face is a true demon when compared to the Wheezing Demon of Chapter 3.
While Key Face is not a real undead, instead being a true demon when compared to the Wheezing Demon of the last film. Key Face resides behind a Red Door in his own branch of The Further, but is distinctly weaker than the Red Faced Demon, his realm being much less creative and interesting.
Watching Insidious on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/70142542#:~:text=2010PG%2D13%201h%2042m,Wilson%2C%20Rose%20Byrne%2C%20Lin%20Shaye
Watching Insidious Chapter 2 on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/70271486
Watching Insidious: Chapter 3 on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80028439
Watching Insidious: The Last Key on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80185924
The Insidious Wiki - https://insidious.fandom.com/wiki/Insidious_Wiki