Continuing the story from 2012’s Sinister, Emmy Award winning producer Jason Blum has teamed back up with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious 2010, Air 2015), and scriptwriters Scott Derrickson (Exorcism of Emily Rose 2005, Deliver Us From Evil 2014) and C. Robert Cargill (Pathogen 2006, Ain’t It Cool with Harry Knowles 2012) to bring audiences the second tale of the supernatural undoings of prepubescent children across the globe through the Pagan demon Bughuul. Known for making high quality, low budget films, Blum’s Blumhouse Productions has seen record breaking numbers with their Indie hit Paranormal Activity (2007), opening up a plethora of projects that Blum & Co. can sink their bloody teeth into, including Insidious (2010), The Purge (2013), Oculus (2013), Lazarus Effect (2015) and Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem (2012), making him the newest B movie king since Samuel Z. Arkoff.
- Still from Sinister 2
In this newest offering, Derrickson turned over the directorial reigns to relative newcomer Ciarán Foy (Hotel Darklight 2009, Citadel 2012) and rehired James Ransone (Inside Man 2006, Prom Night 2008) as the tenacious yet hapless Deputy S0 & So, taking him from his bit part in the first movie to star billing in the sequel. The movie also stars Shannyn Sossamon (One Missed Call 2008, Sleepy Hollow TV series) and Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) twins Robert Daniel and Dartanian Sloan as Bughuul’s newest victims. The eerie transformation from 26-year-old Nicholas King into the Pagan Babylonian demon was pulled off by Emmy nominated makeup artist Bart Mixon, who has had his hand in projects from the Stephen King’s IT TV mini series (1990), to House of 1000 Corpses (2003), to the Grey’s Anatomy TV series, to Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006). The movie was filmed on location in various places throughout Illinois and at the Studio City studios in Chicago.
Sinister 2 begins soon after the events of the first movie, with the steadfast, albeit unnamed, Deputy (Ransone) continuing the fight against the greasy-haired boogieman (King), a being that corrupts children and instigates them to kill their loved ones while they film the murders on a rickety Super 8 camera. Since the demon does not sic the kids onto the rest of the family until after they have left their home in fear, the Deputy must figure out where the last murders took place so he can stop the next set of murders from happening, and then burn the place to the ground and keep anyone else from moving in, an act that will hopefully end that line of Bughuul’s terror. His most recent find is an old church in Indiana where a horrific murder took place during church services, a building he believes to be vacant. But when he shows up to torch the place, he finds a young mom, Courtney Collins (Sossamon), and her twin boys, Zack and Dylan (Dartanian and Robert Daniel Sloan), hiding out in another house on the property, on the run from her controlling, abusive husband.
- Still from Sinister 2
She allows him to investigate, and on top of evidence of Bughuul in the church, he also gets a whiff of the demon’s influence on sensitive Dylan. He is right, of course – the evil entity has been sending the ghosts of his previous adolescent victims to convince poor Dylan to watch the 8mm reels of their own crimes, which will basically hypnotize the boy into making his own snuff film. Things do not get really bad until the boys’ father and Courtney’s estranged husband (Lea Coco) shows up and tries to bully them into coming back home with him. Everyone knows what happens once a family leaves the house where the last murders took place…
Although Ransone was called back to reprise the role of the nameless Deputy from Sinister, his previously short screen time and the lack of anyone named Oswalt from the first movie make this sequel a bit of a reach for fans. The filmmakers also missed out on the great opportunity to make Sinister 2 a more kid-centric film after the first one was told so heavily from an adult point of view. Instead, they split the time between the kids and adults, a move that wobbled the audience between two sets of fears and broke up what could have been a great buildup of suspense. The scares were also retreads of the ones from the first film, which seemed to be the only bit the two movies had in common and one of the things Horror fans actually want to see changed up.
- Still from Sinister 2
They do get props for choosing Sossamon to play the harried mother of two, whose “real woman” size was a nice change from the Hollywood skinny female casting roles of late, and for bringing back Ransone, who played the part of the frightened yet determined Deputy to the fullest. Roger Moore from Movie Nation says, “James Ransome is better than the not-very-frightening Horror film they’ve built around him… He isn’t tough and he’s certainly not fearless. The ex-deputy sees ghosts, feels the rage of an evil presence and lets us see the fear, but, by golly, he’s got a mission and a purpose. He doesn’t let that stop him.” Many critics seem to agree, with Rotten Tomatoes giving Sinister 2 only a 12% rotten rating, and the folks at Metacritic standing firm at 31/100, meaning generally unfavorable reviews. With these numbers, it does not look as if there will be a third offering in the Sinister franchise. But who knows? Stranger things have happened and sometimes a series needs to take a step back in order to take a step forward. CrypticRock gives Sinister 2, a 2.5 out of 5 stars.
- Focus Features
){kind=link}
No comment