Grade (D)
A sequel that took the best element from the original and turned it into a gimmick.
Synopsis
A mother moves her two sons out to an old farmhouse in the rural countryside and soon her boys are tormented by the spirits of dead children taken by the demon named Bughuul.
My Thoughts
The original “Sinister” felt fresh, and surprised with a strong story and great use of horror to make for a truly disturbing and (at times) frightening film. So as much as I wanted this to be a good film it simply was not.
The scariest thing about the original was (for me) without a doubt the 8mm tapes Hawke’s character found in the attic of the home they moved into. The short grainy films were twisted and frightening, they were what made the film as creepy as it was. The additions of these videos into the film made the first feel like a psychological thriller with heavy doses of horror, and it was attention getting from start-to-finish.
This sequel took the old-style footage aspect of the first film and turned it into a gimmick to try and sell a second outing in theaters. Instead of relying on a solid story or really anything from the recipe of success the first had, this one clearly went for jump-scares and a shock-value. The creation of the videos in this sequel tried to go above and beyond and with their placement in the story-line they just felt cheap. Many of them came across as just gross, not frightening at all.
The performance of Sossamon as the single-mother was pretty good and she was clearly the best thing about the film. Her role was a bright spot in an otherwise been-there-done-that horror romp. The young Sloan brothers also brought some good performances but the story just felt too recycled to make you vest any real interest in any of the characters.
There was no intrigue to the story to pull in attention and with just a barrage of gore and jump-scares you can see coming, you pretty much just stare at the screen waiting for time to pass. It was not long into the first-act that it started to feel boring and slow-paced, and throughout, the script just went through all the same genre motions.
It also felt like the writers went back to the 8mm tapes too often and they quickly got repetitive and anti-climactic, just like much of the generic plot. “Sinister 2” really brought none of the substance the original did and feels like a rather gimmicky and cheap sequel, aimed more as a money grab, rather than an entertaining horror movie.