Sinister 2
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Sinister 2 - production informationThere's no doubting Blumhouse Productions. The ability of Jason Blum's production company to maintain the steady stream of micro-budget horror films is unparalleled. Not since the days of the Hammer horror films has anyone been so prolific & so successful in the genre as 2015 sees the return of "Mr.Boogie", the pagan demon from Sinister.
The first Sinister film was released in 2012, starred Ethan Hawke, was made for $3 million and has, to date, grossed nearly $80 million at the global box office. The film's disturbing subject matter made for gripping viewing and it was obvious that the film's writer C. Robert Cargill had a series of horrific tales in mind with the ending he conjured for the first film. Sinister also put Director Scott Derrickson on the radar and he has subsequently been signed by Marvel Studios to bring Doctor Strange, with Benedict Cumberbatch, to life for audiences in the second half of 2016. |
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Cargill and Derrickson have again teamed-up to develop the story and write the screenplay for Sinister 2, with Ciaran Foy taking on the directing duties. Other new behind-the-scenes crew include Cinematographer Amy Vincent, Editor Ken Blackwell and Production Designer Bill Boes. All three have experience in bringing horror films & TV shows to life and are well-suited to create the tension required to generate the scares for this second outing.
The second film will focus on a young mother with twin boys move into the house where Ethan Hawke and his family first encountered Bughuul in the original. Shannyn Sossamon plays the lead in this next installment, while James Ransone returns as the peculiar Deputy So & So and Nick King dons Bughuul's make-up once more to frighten the living shit out of adults & co-opt innocent children into murder! |
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SINISTER 2 - film review
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In SINISTER 2, Bughuul and his "ghost children' target a new family, but Deputy So & So (Yes, that's the character's name in the movies) from the original film is on hand to try and help the Collins family from becoming the Boogeyman's next home movie.
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Continuing the “Snuff” movie concept of the first film, SINISTER 2 opens with a family, being filmed on a Super 8 camera, hung upside down with hoods over their heads and burned alive. This gruesome visage turns out to be the dream of nine-year-old Dylan Collins (Robert Daniel Sloan), who , the viewer will come to learn, has had his dreams invaded by “ghost children” sent by Bughuul (Nick King) to do his bidding and possess the souls of young children. Like many supernatural horror thrillers, SINISTER 2 has a logic gap in its premise that makes it impossible to explain how any of the events in the film actually occur, but, setting that aside, the finished product doesn’t try that hard to explain itself or provide any context from the previous film to assist the viewer understand what the hell is happening. Throughout the first half of the movie, the “ghost children”, led by Milo (Lucas Jade Zumann), force Dylan to watch an ongoing series of home movies, similar to the one from the film’s opening, where heinous, vicious crimes are perpetrated upon helpless victims to satisfy the demands of Bughuul. There’s some nasty stuff in amongst it and, in terms of “inventiveness about how to commit murder”, it ranks very highly (not that it’s a good thing).
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In an effort to provide some character continuity to the original film, SINISTER 2 sees the return of the Deputy (James Ransone), who has since left law enforcement and has become a Private Investigator determined to bring an end to Bughuul’s terror by burning down the houses where previous murders had taken place. His investigation ultimately leads him back to the farmhouse and Church where the Oswalt family were murdered, but he is surprised to find Dylan, his twin brother Zach (Dartanian Sloan) and their mother Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon) living there. A relationship develops between the Deputy and Courtney, both of whom seem unaware that something strange is happening with her boys. Zach becomes jealous of Dylan and the attention that the “ghost children” are giving him and it becomes clear that Bughuul’s plan has been to take control of Zach and have him murder his family; continuing the long list of Super 8 movies that have captured the Boogeyman’s evil.
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Viewers who watched the first film (and found it entertaining), will be more than happy with what SINISTER 2 delivers. It’s essentially more of the same without Ethan Hawke. There’s a definite decline in production values across the board. The acting is very middle-of-the-road and James Ransone is the only one who manages to impress. The absence of Scott Derrickson from the director’s chair means that much of the visual impact achieved in the first film is lost. SINISTER 2 is a victim of SINISTER’s success, as the box office performance of the original increased Derrickson’s already-upward moving profile which saw him offered the chance to write & direct DELIVER US FROM EVIL and take control of Marvel’s DOCTOR STRANGE movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch. As with all horror franchises, SINISTER 2 sets out to shock in its own right, but leaves the door ajar for more tales about Bughuul and his “ghost children” minions. Next time around though, there’d want to be a little more thought to some new ideas that don’t rely on trotting out the Super 8 home movies!
