Sinister was one of the scariest horror movies of the past decade for me. Was it perfect? Absolutely not, but it got the basics of the genre right. The atmosphere was brooding, the imagery was disturbing, the pacing was deliberately slow, the acting was convincing, the suspense was constantly lingering, the scares were genuine, and you were on the same page as the protagonist the entire time. Sinister 2 cheapens everything that made the first film effective. Chilling atmosphere? Gone. Interesting characters? Nope. Good scares? Not a one.
Sinister 2 spoon-feeds everything to you in the clunkiest, most annoying way possible. For starters, this movie is a prime example of why I generally hate kid actors. A good chunk of the story revolves around these two brothers and how the ghost children are leading them into the Boogey-world or whatever it's called, and their acting is horrendous. Some scenes are just the kids talking back and forth and it's painful to sit through. Also, the creepy 8mm tapes are blatantly shoehorned into this movie because, hey, they worked in the first one so we gotta throw them in here. In the first Sinister, Ellison had to watch these tapes because it was part of his job. He was investigating the murders and was forced to sit through these horrific tapes to find clues to help him (and the audience) learn about what was happening. Here, the evil kids lure one of the human kids into the basement and say, "Hey, watch this! Or else..." So the kid watches the tapes, and they serve absolutely no purpose other than to show gratuitous violence for the sake of having gratuitous violence. None of it is scary or disturbing on a personal level because it's such a sloppy plot device that breaks up the momentum of the main story.
The main story isn't good either. Their mother is hiding out from her abusive ex-husband, another cheap plot device that adds nothing to the story other than to have a detestable character to root against. He shows up to make everyone agitated and mad, literally, that's his sole contribution to the movie. The deputy from the first Sinister is the only recurring character, and he's likable enough. In fact, the chemistry between the deputy and the mother is the best part of the movie. If they had developed their characters more and focused on them investigating the mystery behind these tapes, it could have been a serviceable sequel. But no, the kids take center stage here and make it excruciatingly hard to care about anything going on.
Mr. Boogie also takes center stage, dressed to the nines (like any great horror movie villain), popping up here and there with his long hair and suit looking like Michael Jackson. It becomes a joke after a while, and not a funny one. Jump scares are scattered throughout like a minefield and you're just waiting for them to go off. Nothing in this movie works. It's aggravating to know this is the sequel to Sinister because it ruins the possibility of a franchise. Sinister 2 should have never been made, and if you haven't seen it, then pretend it doesn't exist. Sinister stands on its own, while Sinister 2 lays in the pile of pointless, unwanted, cash grab horror sequels that deserve to be erased from human history.
Sinister 2 spoon-feeds everything to you in the clunkiest, most annoying way possible. For starters, this movie is a prime example of why I generally hate kid actors. A good chunk of the story revolves around these two brothers and how the ghost children are leading them into the Boogey-world or whatever it's called, and their acting is horrendous. Some scenes are just the kids talking back and forth and it's painful to sit through. Also, the creepy 8mm tapes are blatantly shoehorned into this movie because, hey, they worked in the first one so we gotta throw them in here. In the first Sinister, Ellison had to watch these tapes because it was part of his job. He was investigating the murders and was forced to sit through these horrific tapes to find clues to help him (and the audience) learn about what was happening. Here, the evil kids lure one of the human kids into the basement and say, "Hey, watch this! Or else..." So the kid watches the tapes, and they serve absolutely no purpose other than to show gratuitous violence for the sake of having gratuitous violence. None of it is scary or disturbing on a personal level because it's such a sloppy plot device that breaks up the momentum of the main story.
The main story isn't good either. Their mother is hiding out from her abusive ex-husband, another cheap plot device that adds nothing to the story other than to have a detestable character to root against. He shows up to make everyone agitated and mad, literally, that's his sole contribution to the movie. The deputy from the first Sinister is the only recurring character, and he's likable enough. In fact, the chemistry between the deputy and the mother is the best part of the movie. If they had developed their characters more and focused on them investigating the mystery behind these tapes, it could have been a serviceable sequel. But no, the kids take center stage here and make it excruciatingly hard to care about anything going on.
Mr. Boogie also takes center stage, dressed to the nines (like any great horror movie villain), popping up here and there with his long hair and suit looking like Michael Jackson. It becomes a joke after a while, and not a funny one. Jump scares are scattered throughout like a minefield and you're just waiting for them to go off. Nothing in this movie works. It's aggravating to know this is the sequel to Sinister because it ruins the possibility of a franchise. Sinister 2 should have never been made, and if you haven't seen it, then pretend it doesn't exist. Sinister stands on its own, while Sinister 2 lays in the pile of pointless, unwanted, cash grab horror sequels that deserve to be erased from human history.