Insidious: The Red Door,the fifth installment of the horror franchise, revisits the Lambert family and the secrets that both separate and bind them. Several of the franchise’s previous stars reprise their roles and usher in a new era for these horror characters. A decade after the Lambert family’s last horrific adventure, the newest installment explores who each of the Lamberts has become and what their futures may have in store.
Game Rant had the privilege to speak with Dajia Milan, the costume designer forInsidious: The Red Door.Milan discussed how the passing decade allowed her to shape the characters and her own collaboration with the cast to create a comfortable vision. With this, Milan explores the influence ofThe Red Dooras her first horror project and the freaky incidents they experienced on set.
RELATED:Robert Englund Reveals Who Should Direct New Nightmare On Elm Street Movie
GR: There is an exploration of family in all those projects. For the Lamberts and otherInsidiouscharacters, Kristin M. Burke, Ariyela Wald-Cohain, and Lisa Norcia previously designed the costumes for the franchise. Did you draw from any of their designs to inform your own?
Dajia Milan: Five takes place after 1 and 2,so I watched 1 and 2, millions of times. I already knew the story but to watch just for the costumes, I noticed a lot of elements they used for Patrick Wilson who plays Josh, but because it takes place ten years later, they’re in a different mindset. The only thing I kind of pulled from those was when we see possessed Josh in 2, he’s in a hoodie and burgundy shirt. We kind of replicated that and played with the idea of it being possessed Josh and the new Josh wearing those hoodies to try and confuse Dalton on who the real Josh was.
I noticed that Josh wore a lot of plaid in the beginning, so I wanted to stay completely away from the plaid with his development 10 years later. I pulled that plaid and used it in Dalton’s beginning sequence when he’s at the college to try and tie inthese similarities between father and son. Because they’re so detached and disconnected from each other, I wanted to connect them in some instance that they wouldn’t pick up on. I used very small bits and pieces from the others only because I really wanted to make it my own. Because it’s 10 years later, I really had the space to create something new.
GR: How did you tackle designing costumes for the dark? Did you want to draw upon a certain color palette?
DM: I knew it would be dark and hard to see some of the costumes. So I thought about what we could do, sowe could engage with the costumes. I stuck with a palette I knew would be dark but not super dark for both Ty and Patrick. For Chris' character and the Professor, we had these lighter sequences, so I could pay with the color because we could see them more.
GR: How involved were you in creating the demons? We see the aged gown with Josh in the hospital and there are some others. How did that differ from the other characters?
DM: That was one of the late additions. When we had the meeting, we knew there was going to be a lot of movement justbecause of who they were looking to cast. Reading the script, we knew it needed to be free-flowing, and it’s a small space, so it can’t be too restricting because we need the actors to move. We made a quick decision to make it nasty and had the throw-up all over it. My supervisor was the one who brilliantly did all the distressing and the guck because I couldn’t take it. It was just as disgusting as it looks in the film. We joked a lot about not constantly seeing the same Victorian-type of ghouls you see all the time in movies. We really wanted to create something new and attract franchise fans and a new generation.
GR: Did you have any specific influences for the looks?
DM: With Dalton, I kind of pulled the idea ofmaking him this dark artist, skater kid. The pants he wears, we cut the bottom and I kind of frayed them a little bit to look distressed and ragged with some dirty Vans. This idea of making his belt into a rope was something I came up with, and it was referenced later for his gag when he ties it to try and strangle Chris.
For Chris, she’s the complete opposite of Dalton. She was my absolute favorite and probably my hardest to dress because there were so many good things we had, andit came down to selecting 5 or 6 costumesfor her. You’ll see that she has different pairs of earrings matched together. In the scene where she kicks Nick the Dick, she has socks that say “F*** off.” Hers were pulled really from my mind. People used to dress themselves and not dress the way the masses are telling us we should be dressing, which I thought was a cool concept for her. A lot of her stuff was thrifted and there were some small indie companies I wanted to work with. It was cool to have something different in this franchise.
The Professor,Hiam Abbass, I based hers off of Michèle Lamy. She’s this dark, mysterious professor and Dalton is so drawn to her. So they’re both dark, but she has these layers and richness of textures because she is an artist. That’s why you see these velvets and rich, dark colorful necklaces she loves to overlay. Hiram was great to work with. I sent her my board and she loved it.
Everyone else, I kind of kept them the same. Elise wears the cute little cardigan suits and her neck scarf, but we wanted to make her a little more ethereal and an angelic guide for them. Foster, is now this hip-hop artist kid. I drew bits and piecesof listening to Patricktalk about his son, and I’m from Harlem, so I drew bits and pieces from people I used to know or my brother.
I love being able to play dress up all the time. The fittings are my favorite part. When an actor just lets me play and do my thing, it’s the best. We really get to create some magic together.
GR: How much of your design process is a collaboration between you and the actor to create a mutual vision for the characters?
DM: I always want to include the cast in what they’re wearing because it’s important for me to make sure that once they put on those clothes, theyimmediately feel like that character and not themselves. When I’m developing I talk them through before doing the shopping and fitting because you never want an actor to step into a fitting and have no idea what they’re wearing and end up hating everything. I’ve never had that happen to me, and they often want to take things when we’re done. Those are the responses I want.
I called Ty after having my meeting with Patrick. We shared some ideas of what aspects he liked and didn’t like, what he envisioned, and what I envisioned. He had this ideaof relating to Kurt Cobain a lot. I thought about how to make it “Ty approved.”
GR: What’s next for you? After doing your first horror project, do you want to continue with it?
DM: Oh absolutely. I would love to keep doing horror and doing the grossest things possible. It’s so fun to see the process of my team coming together and distressing and making things nasty. It’s not just about wearing pretty clothes because anyone can put on pretty clothes, but it’s more about telling a story with them.I would love to continue doing horroror maybe some fantasy down the line.
We actually had a couple of weird incidents on set that was kind of eerie. The school we shot at was supposedly one of the most haunted schools in America. I remember one day on set I was with my team, and we were waiting for them to set up the camera, and all of a sudden, a table moved, and we were like “Did you see that?”
There was another instance in the makeup trailer and I forgetwhose makeup they were doing, but the second the actor got up, a flood of water came in the seat. There was another time, and it was actually on the news about a group of kids who got poisoned swimming in the pool. It was weird stuff. I came home and started sageing.
