Review of Sinister 2 (2015) by Hunter N — 20 Aug 2015

I liked it a lot. While it's nowhere near as intriguing, effective, or as unique as the first one, but what horror sequel ever truly is? In its own right, though, I thought it was great. It felt like a natural continuation from the first film without adding a bunch of extra ridiculous mythology or exposition to bog it down. I was invested the whole time. Ransone as Ex-Deputy So and So (did he even have a name? I didn't notice. If he didn't, that's even better, haha) was great to watch and he was a protagonist I really rooted for. I really liked Dylan as well. Robert Daniel Sloan did a great job and I liked the direction they took with him and his brother's character. This one wasn't predictable at all, like the first one. I was on the edge of my seat during the climax.

The way the story was told felt very natural. I liked seeing this from the perspective of the children, as awful and cheesy as some of their acting and dialogue were. It was a cool new conduit to watch the new batch of home movies, which were all just as effective and creepy as the ones in the first film. Christmas Morning was my favorite one.

It's a very good companion piece to the first film, which I consider the best horror film of the past decade. I liked that it wasn't a total retread of the first film and that it told it's own interesting story. The whole custody subplot was goofy and over the top and some of the acting is awful (those ghost kids and the dad), but it didn't stop me from enjoying the overall sense of dread and uneasiness that the film made you feel. A very solid horror flick. I give a 7.5 or 8.