Colorado dates for a stage show based on the “Insidious” horror series have been canceled less than two weeks after the production opened nationally, following terrible reviews from audiences.
That includes previously announced Colorado Springs and Denver dates that would have brought “Insidious” to the Pikes Peak Center on May 22, followed by two performances at Denver’s Buell Theatre on May 23.
“Insidious: The Further You Fear,” which was announced in October, is now listed as canceled on both the Pikes Peak Center website and the Buell Theatre website.
Ticketholders who purchased online or via phone will get automatic refunds on their credit cards within 30 business days, ticket seller AXS said, and in-person refunds are available at the original point of purchase.
On Thursday, official website insidious-live.com was still listing dozens of dates around the U.S. through the spring, with no message that it had been officially canceled. Ticket links however had been changed to “unavailable.”
Promoter AEG Presents did not respond to a request for comment as of Thursday morning.
The show opened on Jan. 18 in Arkansas and this week played two shows at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre, where it was savaged by ostensible fans of the series, according to WXYZ Detroit, an ABC affiliate.
“Hundreds of people have been flooding social media with negative reviews on a show they say is nothing like what producers promised,” WXYZ reported, citing $70 tickets and the bait-and-switch feeling among attendees.
NBC affiliate WXII Detroit also confirmed the show cancellations — and reported that fans were “outraged” over the apparent false advertising promising that it would re-create the movie experience.
Name-brand horror purveyor Blumhouse Productions released the first “Insidious” film in 2010, and has followed it with four sequels and spin-offs — as well as well-received titles such as “Get Out,” “Sinister” and “M3GAN.”
The “Insidious” tour was not the first live, cross-promotional event the company has approved. In September, Blumhouse and NBC partnered on an “Overnightmare” weekend at Estes Park’s historic Stanley Hotel. Each $1,031 ticket promised a two-night stay in a double-occupancy room in The Lodge, the themed experience of your choice, one dinner, $100 breakfast/lunch credit, two drinks, two nights of screenings for a new Peacock horror series, and “interactive moments and photo ops.”
The “Insidious” tour website describes the now-frozen stage adaptation as “an all-new, thrilling story set in the Insidious universe. Hosted as a live show by the ‘real’ Specs and Tucker, the actual paranormal investigators who inspired the original movie, the event soon takes a turn for the terrifying. When a paranormal demonstration goes horribly wrong, dark forces are unleashed, and the horror becomes all too real.”