Review of Sinister 2 (2015) by Filipeneto — 25 Jul 2020

As I have already mentioned several times in other reviews, I see film sequels with some caution, knowing that many of them serve only to raise money from the public and do not reach half the quality of the first film. This case is just another one that follows that line. If the first film was very good and worked quite well, this one has turned out to be much weaker.

In fact, this film repeats, with some nuances, the same formula that we saw in the first one, without the advantage of the element of surprise that worked very well the first time. Once again, we see a house haunted by Bagul, an evil entity that turns children into murderers of their own families. Again, we see an innocent family being victimized by this entity, while a retired policeman, whom we saw briefly in the first film, tries everything to save them.

Ciarán Foy assures the direction whereas Scott Derrickson, who directed and wrote the first film, limited himself to signing the script this time. Maybe that's why the film is never as good as the first. It manages to create a tense atmosphere around the house and the evil that surrounds it, but the fact is that we already know what that evil is and what its capable of, so everything that follows is easy to guess. The film has its good moments, there are some scares that work well and make the film worthwhile, but in general it is much weaker.

James Ransone was good enough in his role and is supported by Shannyn Sossamon, with whom he seems to collaborate quite well and create a convincing chemistry. Robert Daniel Sloan, given his age and inexperience, was very good, while Dartanian Sloan was weaker. At a more technical level, the film closely follows its predecessor, with an elegant and well-made cinematography, especially in the footage that reproduce the home movies. The soundtrack is very good, but it seems copied from the initial film, with slight additions.