Review of Sinister 2 (2015) by Sam D — 23 Aug 2015

The sequel to the sleeper hit Sinister finally hits theaters with Sinister 2, one of the most disappointing horror movies in recent memory. We as movie goers have been spoiled recently when it comes to horror movies.

Films like The Conjuring, Sinister, It Follows, and the Insidious series have shown us just what horror has to offer and we have become accustom to expecting these films to be terrifying. Even a movie like Unfriended had something new and somewhat original to offer.

However, leave it to the unnecessary sequel to one of the best horror films of the decade to set back our expectations. Sinister 2 revolves around a family on the run from an abusive husband and Officer So and So from the first movie trying to investigate the events of the first film and links them to other crimes.

This seemed like a simple enough premise, but then things just get unintentionally hilarious and down right sad. This movie takes what was so clever and disturbing about the original and forgets it completely to cash in on useless gore and vulgarity.

There are scenes in this movie that were gross, respectably, but unneeded. Children in this film are shouting out these words which they shouldn't even know what they mean at their age just to boost the rating up to an R.

This falls on the writers and definitely the director Ciaran Foy. The script here is just filled with horrific dialogue that dumbs the characters down and scares that just aren't scary. These heavy and dramatic scenes that are supposed to make us sympathize with the family in turmoil end up making us laugh and think how bad this movie is.

I won't spoil this film, but there is one scene where I literally laughed for 5 solid minutes after the fact due to how unrealistic and over the top it was. This is obviously a huge problem for a movie that is supposed to be scary but even worse is that this movie forgets who the main villain is.

The demon in the film is only on screen for maybe 5 minutes throughout the film. The scares here revolve around poorly paced jump scares that you see coming from a mile a way and when the demon is on screen he just isn't scary.

What made the first work was how he blended in to these tapes and all the sudden this horrific creature appeared. Here he just stands in a corner or in a picture on a computer. I must give this film credit, the writers clearly gave a slight bit of effort to dive deeper into this mythology they made and it was impressive.

But as soon as that one scene was over it was back to this over the top Lifetime channel melodrama that had no reason being in a horror film. The actors here do try with James Ransone returning from the first film and Shannyn Sossamon as the mother both trying to save this movie.

But the child actors here are just really bad. I try not to bash child actors too much because they are children, but here they were just insufferable. Overall I can't even begin to recommend Sinister 2.

It did try a little to make the story behind the demon a bit deeper but when this movie is so laughably bad every ounce of effort is wasted. It is best to skip this film, if you do decide to watch it catch it when it is in the bargain bin at a store.