Sinister 2

Sinister is one of my favorite horror films from the past few years, so when the reviews for this sequel started coming out, I was really disappointed. I mean, it has a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time that I'm writing this. But after going into the movie with an open mind, I actually thought it was surprisingly solid, a whole lot better than the reviews would have you believe.

When Sinister 2 was originally announced, I was pretty skeptical. The original focused so heavily on a mystery that was solved by the end, so how do you make another one when we already know what's going on? C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson pull that off by offering something totally different that still feels familiar. We follow the madness from a child's perspective this time, and that allows us to explore the rules of this universe in a really interesting way. In the first one we're begging for the Oswalt family to leave the house, but this time, we're begging for the family to stay in it. The formula is flipped around a bit, and while still being structured around a collection of film reels, Sinister 2 feels different enough to justify its existence.

It's also quite creepy just as the original movie was, although the atmosphere isn't as bleak and relentless this time. A whole lot of scenes take place during the day and just consist of a lot of dialogue, and it was definitely missing the Scott Derrickson touch in some places. Sinister 2 also relies on jump scares a bit more than its predecessor did, and in fact nearly every single scare in the movie is accompanied by a loud noise. They all worked on me, so I didn't mind too much, but I wish I could say the scares in this one were as inventive as they were the last time.

But overall, Sinister 2 does a really solid job of building on the first one. The plot is far more interesting than I expected, James Ransone and Shannyn Sossamon are both great, and the film reels themselves are all pretty fantastic (except for one that goes a bit over the top and just looks silly, but I won't spoil it). Best of all, while Mr. Boogie gets more screen time here, I never felt the added exposure made him any less terrifying, and luckily the franchise hasn't gone the Halloween route of explaining too much.

No, it's not as good as the original, but if you enjoyed that movie as much as I did, you should have a good time with Sinister 2.

Sinister 2 isn't as bad as some make it out to be. It's not a good movie either. Like most sequels, it struggles with the novelty gone and never manages to succeed in new ways or areas. It is a mediocre and forgettable film, just as the name of it's main character.

I very much enjoyed the first movie. While it's not without its faults - I actually don't think it was that scary with too heavy reliance and textbook-use of "creepy" sounds and the children were too cliché for my taste; it was a very absorbing movie, well directed with excellent music, a good sense for mystery, mood, pace, a solid twist and awesome ending. It cleverly managed to outbalance it's shortcomings.

Sinister 2 starts off promising enough - at first it looks and feels just as it is supposed to, the snuff-flicks are still here with their grainy look and new, obscure kills complimented by creepy music. We find out what has happened after the first movie and continue the investigations surrounding the murder cases involving mysterious events, now with a new family (with twins - which could've provided an interesting twist to the story) and more involvement of the deputy from the prequel which at this point pretty much has inherited the knowledge of the previous main character. Everything you could possibly want in a sequel to Sinister is here, but sadly it is meaningless as they never manage to do something as interesting or memorable with it.

The death-flicks are useless this time as they don't provide anything to resolve the puzzle or any kind of new information. Even worse: the pace of them is pretty much straight to the point giving them a very rushed, uninspired and uninvolved feeling - not enough build-up and no intensity. As opposed to some in the first movie, none of them made me wonder or left me amazed how they were filmed. Instead some of them involve CGI rats and crocodiles - don't even ask. Even the characters argue to watch them all through in one sitting almost as if just to be done with.

The movie also suffers from too much exposition provided by the ghost children. The family, the deputy and Bughuul I found to be decent, but also problematic. While the deputy continues to be the same, likable character, you'll never fear for him because he seems to be too safe from all of it. The character of the mother is another one we should fear for, but oddly enough she is almost entirely absent in any of the horror events; her struggle is only on the family-issue side which doesn't quite sit right with this kind of movie and is more or less a subplot which lacks emotional depth, partially due to the father being so over the top. There is just overall little sense of danger in this movie which is its biggest fault.

To it's credit it does try to provide new things while being true to the first movie. It has it's moments where it shows potential and ideas, but never quite manages to expand on it in suspenseful and creative ways. It does however bother to explain some things surrounding the history and what if's, just about in the right amount without ruining too much, which is always nice. It also has its fair share of plot holes and faulty logic, just like the previous one did (some are even still the same), but I found it to be forgivable as it's not something I should be too concerned about with a movie involving supernatural events.

It's not exactly trash. I wasn't really bored watching it, but it also didn't provide enough suspense either, which is something it definitely should have. With a third Sinister movie seemingly sure to be made it'll be interesting to see where he series is being headed and if it'll reach cult status as any other popular horror franchise. The first one has potential to become a classic, this one is a much weaker entry which makes me wonder how they will handle the next one. Sinister 2 had potential and could have used more polish in almost every aspect. Hopefully the makers will learn from it and allow them more time to come up with good material.

The first SINISTER was a fairly scary & very atmospheric Horror film but this sequel definitely wasn't scary in the slightest because it felt like a Children of the Corn flick & a family drama mixed together.

James Ransone is very good again as the timid & scared Duputy from the first film & James is a very interesting actor & is a very good actor & i liked him more than Ethan Hawke in the first film. James was excellent in the brilliant "IT: Chapter 2" & is genuinely a good actor who i like to see. Ransone definitely is the best thing about this sequel. His Deputy is a funny character with a good heart & is now a private investigator working on the case of the Evil Supernatural Deaths after the horrific murders of the Oswalds family.

The Deputy meets a scared mother with her two weird sons that are on the run & hiding out in a big old farm house next to an abandoned church that was the site for a families murder. The story is fine really & the cast is decent with the super sexy Shannyn Sossamon as the boys weary mum with her own problems going with her abusive ex-husband & now Supernatural goings on at her farm house. The weird skinny young boys are the target of a bunch of evil ghost kids that wanna persuade them to kill their family but one boy is good & one is bad.

This does feel very routine for a Supernatural flick & nothing stands out as scary, unique or even creepy at all. In fact SINISTER 2 felt like a Goosebumps episode or something similar. The fact you see the ghostly kids constantly & the boys sit talking to them regularly that there is zero threat at all & no tension or fear for the audience but it's still a fun & entertaining supernatural film. Of course Sinister 2 was totally inspired by Stephen Kings Children of the Corn & that's fine. I did like the rural setting with the big old farm house & the corn fields.

The film is watchable & fun but that's completely down to James Ransone keeping it all interesting & fun because he's a good actor & Deputy is a good character full of awkward charm.

The first Sinister was definitely more creepy & atmospheric but i will say that Sinister 2 is much more fun & i love that Duputy character.

Many a horror sequel fail to live up to the legacy of its predecessor because it is content to simply do the same thing over again and/or try to compensate for that familiarity by over-doing on cheap jump scares. Thankfully, 'Sinister 2' isn't that kind of sequel. As much as it places yet another family in a creepy old house with a past, there are more than enough new elements that differentiate it from the original, while at the same time remaining thematically faithful to the earlier Scott Derrickson film that was regarded as one of the better horror films of its year.

Derrickson doesn't return to direct this sequel, but he and C. Robert Cargill again assume writing duties here. Given the fate of Ethan Hawke's character at the end of 'Sinister', the duo has wisely chosen to leave his character to rest; instead, it is James Ransone's Deputy So & So who makes a comeback, the former deputy who had previously assisted Hawke's Ellison Oswalt now himself obsessed over such similar cases. Indeed, the erstwhile police officer has been tracking houses which were scenes of grisly murders accompanied by the disappearance of the families' youngest, and his own investigation has since brought him to a rural farmhouse where a mother is taking refuge with her two sons from her abusive husband.

Unbeknownst to her, the older twin Dylan (Robert Daniel Sloan) has been seeing several ghosts of young children around the house, who conspire every night to get Dylan to sneak to the basement and watch snuff movies recorded on Super 8 film of them killing their entire families. If Dylan doesn't cooperate, they promise that his nightmares won't go away – or that the demon by the name of Bughuul would be very, very upset. Their intentions only become clearer much later on, and without spoiling the surprise, let's just say that it has to do with some sibling rivalry between Dylan and his much more impetuous younger brother Zach (Dartanian Sloan).

Although casting the accursed family as a protective mother and her twin sons might seem a convenient way of appealing to audience sympathy, there is a much more ingenious reason for the conceit. Those who have seen the first movie will recall the twist near the end where each unfortunate family meets their end only after moving from a previous scene of murder to a new residence; as it turns out, Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon) is particularly inclined to moving away whether by force or volition once she is found by her husband Clint (Lea Coco) . That adds a frisson of urgency to the deputy's quest to find out more about Bughuul before her inevitable move, a personal mission which also puts him directly in evil's way.

Whereas the earlier movie was told largely from Ellison's perspective, Derrickson and his substitute Ciaran Foy opt not just to observe the proceedings from Courtney's point of view but also that of Dylan's, especially as the latter is repeatedly seduced by the seemingly innocuous exhortations of Bughuul's ghost kids. At the same time, reinstating the former's offbeat supporting character into this narrative also provides a perfect opportunity to explore the mythology of Bughuul, in particular a vital clue left behind by Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio) whom Ellison had previously consulted that points to the demon's modus operandi from more than four decades ago.

At no point do the writers nor Foy sacrifice proper storytelling for convenient scares, and aside from the unsettling moments that are meant to make you squirm (or jump) in your seat, there is a surprisingly well-developed narrative that keeps you on edge. The former however should not be under-estimated, as Foy shows more gumption than Derrickson by upping the shlock factor of the found footage – one shows an entire family being electrocuted by their son while seated in a pool of water in their kitchen, another shows a separate family buried in the snow to die of hypothermia, but the most shocking of all is that which takes place on the grounds which Courtney had moved into, which sees the family of a church minister and the minister himself being burrowed alive by rats trapped on top of their stomachs under a bowl on which rests a piece of hot coal.

Even without its predecessor's benefit of surprise, 'Sinister 2' packs plenty of suspense as it unravels the origins of Bughuul while demonstrating in detail just how each one of the missing children is exploited to recruit his very next victim. Like we said at the beginning, this sequel proves superior than most others of its ilk by being much more than just a retread of the original while showing an impressive restraint against jump scares. It doesn't hurt that it also boasts a gripping story which builds to a strong finish that reinforces the malevolence of the children who have fallen prey to Bughuul's devilish charms. Yes, it is a more than worthy sequel all right, and one that most certainly lives up to its title.

While Sinister 2 is still quite well… sinister, it certainly lacks any of the originality and constant vibe of fear that made its predecessor such a memorable and competent horror film that found both success at the box office and on home release.

Directed by soon to be Dr. Strange deliverer Scott Derrickson, Sinister was a competently made horror that featured scarily good sound designs, an assured lead turn from Ethan Hawke and a somewhat unique premise that introduced us all to one of horror's most eerie creations of recent times in the form of the child hungry Bughuul.

Where the first film's use of home footage horrors and sudden appearances of Bughuul and his tribe were used to horrific effect, new director Ciarán Foy struggles to utilise the murderous footage to chilling affects here (even though a rat centric set piece is a dastardly delight) and an overuse of Bughuul undoes many of the films wannabe scares. It also doesn't help that an uninteresting story that's been co-created by Derrickson fails to engage like Ethan Hawke's struggling writer plot line of the first film.

Trying to keep things tied together by the return of James Ransone's one time sheriff's deputy So & So (seriously we never get to hear his name) and his quest to stop Bughuul's evil dominance, the plot that also includes Shannyn (yes I'm still acting) Sossamon's mother of two increasingly doomed boys just fails to fire and with a mere handful at best of genuine frightening or terrifying moments, Sinister 2 fails to recreate the ominous mood of the first film and where the first film culminated in a shocking finale, Sinister 2 try's but fails to shock us with a fiery and scythe laden crescendo.

The first Sinister offered up so much opportunity for a new franchise to take hold and while Bughuul still remains and interesting and scary creation, Sinister 2 seems to mark an early drop off in form that will likely see the Sinister franchise relegated to bargain bins before long, which is a sad proposition for a storyline that if done right, could be all types of horror filled greatness.

1 ½ late night basement movie screenings out of 5