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.

Being a huge fan of the first Sinister, I was beyond excited for this movie. After seeing the trailer, it looked like they were going to go over the top with this one and make it intense. I really wanted that to happen. I really wanted this to be even better than the first.

I didn't get what I wanted.

This is my first review, so I'll keep it short. Everything that I was hoping this film would have, wasn't there. Not really a spoiler, but I felt like it tried to be more of a family drama movie with some supernatural stuff going on in the background. There were non-genuine jump-scares and the acting was less than average. Even with the glaringly bad plot, I sat there trying to look at some positives. The positives are that some scares got me. I'm jumpy even when I know jump-scares are coming, so they got me on that. But when the movie ended, I couldn't help but reflect on how bad the overall story was and how stupid some of the scares were. I won't spoil any of them, but let's just say that you'll probably be wondering how the scares were "genuine" when you really put it into perspective.

I give this movie a 5/10. Mostly because I just really, really wanted to like it. I kept searching for any redeeming qualities throughout the movie and they are slim to none. I recommend watching if you're bored one night and you've seen just about all the horror movies out there. It'll pass the time, but it's just a plain jump-scare fest with a nonsensical story. Don't go in having high expectations like I did.

EDIT: I gave this movie a 5/10 because I was in denial. This movie not good. 1/10.

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.

Not as good as the original but still an okay horror movie. Maybe if it didn't involve the kids so much the scenes could have been more graphic.

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