It still kind of blows my mind that ‘Sinister’ as a franchise never got to fully launch, while movies like ‘Insidious’ and ‘The Conjuring’ were allowed to thrive. The first entry in this series was a bit of a slog in places, but it had a fun and interesting take on the ‘supernatural Horror’ genre, It handled the ‘found footage’ genre in an authentic and interesting way, the characters were well written and aesthetically it looked really solid. It certainly didnt commit any crimes that films of its time wernt doing in droves anyway…I was kind of cautious therefore, that the sequel HAD to be bad…I mean, most reviews slated the film, and a poor box office taking combined with bad test audience reactions all but cemented the fact that a part 3 would never materialise…something that has yet to happen to this day…
And yet, watching ‘Sinister 2’ tonight, I honestly couldnt see where the disinterest and even hate stemmed from. I actually thought it was a pretty solid horror movie that maybe in some respects even surpassed the original.
The film picks up a few months to a couple of years after the events of the first film. and we open by being introduced to Courtney and her two children Dylan and Zach. The trio are fleeing an abusive relationship, thats seeing them ducking and weaving private investigators and keeping ready to run on a moments notice. But at this point in time, a friends agreed to let them stay in an abandoned townhouse that sits on the land they own, in the hope that they can wait it out till the custody trial, in the hopes of averting Dylan and Zachs father taking them back into custody he legally doesnt have.
Problem is, that town house was victim to a terrible family murder, followed by the dissapearence of one of the families children. Yes Bughuul is back baby! and he’s bought a TON of dead kids along for the ride. And this time he has his evil EVIL eyes set on Courtneys kids.
Luckily, The deputy from the last movie (now an ex-deputy) has been picking up the research left by Ellison and his research team, and he’s struck on a winning strategy. If he burns the house down wherea Bughuul related murder has happened BEFORE a family can move in. He cant work he weird magic on the place and it breaks the chain. Unfotunately Bughuul has multiple chains going, so our Ex-deputy has to basically go state by state following media reports, hoping he happens to burn down the right house at the right time.
Well, as you can imagine his investigations lead him to the door of the townhouse Coutney is laying low in. and things basically explode from there, with the children taken by Bughuul trying desperately to coax Dylan into murdering his family for Bughuul, while the kids father returns on the scene with officers to demand Courtney and the kids return back to his home…where the chaos is sure to begin again.
Our ex dep, courtney and the kids must stand up against their abusive spouse, AND fight the forces of evil…and if they’re lucky…maybe discover true love along the way.
And I think all the issues I had with ‘Sinister’ largely get resolved here in the sequel. the lofty glacial moving script is cut down to a well paced 92 minutes, theres plenty going on in the narrative to push things along comfortably at that pace. The act structuring is smooth and consistent with seamless transitions across the 3 acts and a gentle ramp up across the 3 movements. The characters are maybe a bit less naturalistic and feel a bit more ‘horror movie’ oriented, but the trade off is a richer, more complex story that deals with difficult topics both up front in the domestic abuse storyline, and using a nice layer of subtext with Bughuul.
The film feels a bit more comfortable in its skin, relaxing more and dealing with human social interactions, rather than the first films reliance on one characters spiral out and the people he hurt in the process. This, felt like a movie you could more easily sink into and just enjoy as a movie. rather than an out and out ‘vibe’ piece.
The direction also ends up engaging in a bit of a trade off, the first film was very highly strung on Aesthetic, creating a smokey, woozy, dream like vibe for the full runtime, a strong visual aesthetic that the audience is supposed to let carry them across the runtime. This films a bit more grounded in traditional horror iconography and vision. But I feel that works to its favour here, its less aggressively in your face, it still happily gives the audience some of that wonderfully dark imagery. but it also gives the audience a nice visual contrast. A bit of light to work in with the dark…Something I felt the last film was missing.
Cine wise, its pretty solid, maybe not quite as solid as the first film. But compositions are pretty on the level, theres a bit more wobbly CGI here than the previous installment, and the Jumpscare element has more or less been fully stripped away in favour of a more unsettling atmosphere. But I actually kind of prefer that, with some solid sequence arrangements helping keep things pretty boiant for the full runtime.
Performance wise, James Ransone and Shannyn Sosssamon are pretty solid here…I was dubious when I saw that the deputy from the first film was being bumped up to a main cast member for this entry. But James nad Shannyn work really well together, they have great on screen chemestry and when Lea Coco comes onto the scene as Husband ‘Clint’ it really kicks up to the next level and properly cemented that this cast were really clicking with the material given to them. In a way, its kind of unintentionally funny tyhat Lea somehow manages to make a more terrifying villain in this story than the ACTUAL demon child snatcher…
and as for the soundtrack? its solid. It feels very similar to the first film. and I thought it was mixed to good last time…so, Im not going to complain about more of the same!
‘Sinister 2’ actually kind of surprised me, while we lose the distinct aesthetic and intense atmosphere of the first film, we end up with a much leaner, much punchier, much more engaging film. I could see myself watching ‘Sinister’ late at night, in a very particular headspace, when im wanting a specific vibe from a horror movie. Its the kind of movie that scratches a very particular itch.
Sinister 2, I could see myself putting on…Just because I wanna watch a 2010’s horror movie thats nice and digestable. I could easily see this becoming something of a comfort watch for just how smooth a movie it is. While it being that is a bit dissapointing, because it means it isnt a truely ‘great’ movie…the fact i’d gladly watch this again, and the fact I thought it inches ahead of the first entry, means it surely must have SOMETHING going for it.
Honestly? I could recommend either of these films. I’d say you’d probably need to watch the first film to truely appreciate this one. But as long as you’ve seen the first one at least once, this one is a lot more fun and has a much higher chance of going into your regular rotation.
TYTD Reviews 