Sinister 2 has to have been one of the duller horror films I’ve come across and unlike the original this has no mystery, suspense or, laughably, anything remotely scary. The cast actually isn’t terrible considering what they had to work with but there’s nothing else that’s redeemable.
Sinister 2
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Horror, Supernatural
Universal | R – 97 min. – $34.98 | January 12, 2016
Date Published: 01/03/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 1.5/5 |
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Scott Derrickson struck gold with 2012’s Sinister which garnered good reviews from horror hounds and in fact, it is a well made and finely written film from beginning to end featuring a good performance from Ethan Hawke. But in Hollywood style — courtesy of a $77M worldwide haul on a $3M budget — when you find some success, let’s run a first-rate idea into the ground. The plot of Sinister 2 centers on Courtney Collins (SHANNYN SOSSAMON) who has recently separated from an abusive husband (LEA COCO) and retreated to a house on a farm with her two young sons, Dylan (ROBERT DANIEL SLOAN) and Zach (DARTARIAN SLOAN). However, the property has a sordid past. The barn-turned-church building across from the house was the site of a grisly murder two years prior and this family is in deep trouble as the demon Bhughul (NICK KING), with its ghost children in tow, has plans for them, particularly Dylan, the youngest boy.
Enter Ex-Deputy So & So (JAMES RANSONE) from the first movie who has left the sheriff’s department and spends any spare time hunting down similar murders as that of the Oswalt Family and his investigation has led him to this rural farm. But finding out the Collins resides there has complicated matters. He eventually befriends Courtney even helping her when her ex drops by with some cop buddies while also investigate the church where he observes some disturbing sightings. Meanwhile, every night, the ghost kids keep pushing Dylan to watch their own kill movies which I guess would lead him down the path of making his own to add to the collection and appease Bhughul.
Although there are some minor sidetracks, least of which the melodramatic subplot involving the abusive ex as well as So & So gathering of more material about Bhughul and discovering Professor Jonas has “mysteriously” disappeared, though word has he’s at Jurassic World attempting to militarize raptors… One of the biggest problem going against Sinister 2 from the onset is the fact that unlike the original which combined horror with a sense of mystery, that element is completely gone knowing what’s up and there’s really nothing to grab one’s attention. It also doesn’t help the film isn’t chilling or creepy in the least bit and that director Ciarán Foy, marking only his second feature, employs the tired jump scares which, worse yet, failed to even scare. What we get instead is a 90+ minute film that is an utter bore, and chore for that matter, to sit through.
It’s quite surprising to see that this came from the same writing duo which included Scott Derrickson (who directed the last one). I don’t know if he scribbled out the plot while writing/prepping for Doctor Strange, either way it’s not a good showing of the talent he has in his young, fledgling career. This is hollow praise perhaps, but the only thing keeping this from landing any lower of a rating is seeing the lovely Shannyn Sossamon and, in spite of everything, doesn’t give a bad performance and James Ransone for his part does well enough considering his character still doesn’t have a name.
In the end, Sinister 2 joins the all-too-long line of sequels that do not need to exist. Sure, the production design isn’t horrible and on a technical level it looks fine but between the lazy story and downright lack of anything remotely scary, replacing scares with mild disgust a la the Saw franchise, this isn’t a bad movie so much as just boring. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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This release comes with a slip cover that has an almost felt-like texture on the front. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Audio Commentary – Director Ciarán Foy provides a low key yet on point commentary touching on a variety of topics from the casting of the brothers, finding the house and other tid-bits. Deleted Scenes (9:22; HD) – We get a few scenes cut down or removed, presumably for pacing reasons. Extended Kill Films (TRT 11:38; HD) – There is more footage from those so-called creepy “kill films”, six in total. Time to Watch Another: The Making of Sinister 2 (10:11; HD) is a basic behind-the-scenes featurette with on-set interviews with members of the cast and crew talking about the characters and overall plot. |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Universal unleashes Sinister 2 on Blu-ray shown with a 1080p high-definition transfer and a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio. As one might expect from a supernatural horror movie, it’s not the most colorful film around but it does offer some decent enough detail while colors are generally bright enough. There were no noticeable instances of artifacts or aliasing and it appears to be a clean transfer. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| I was actually a bit disappointed with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track mostly with the lower end where dialogue levels were at times too quiet, though still being able to understand what was being said. The more horror-centric scenes along with the sound effects and score give this lossless track a nice boost and giving it some depth. It’s not overly dynamic or anything but should be considered serviceable enough. |
OVERALL – 2.0/5 |
| Overall, Sinister 2 has to have been one of the duller horror films I’ve come across and unlike the original this has no mystery, suspense or, laughably, anything remotely scary. The cast actually isn’t terrible considering what they had to work with but there’s nothing else that’s redeemable. The Blu-ray released by Universal doesn’t have a ton of bonus material but the video and audio transfers aren’t half bad. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.