Sinister 2

Sinister 2

The biggest waste of cinematic film in 2012 is the sequel to the 2013 sleeper hit of that year. In the aftermath of the shocking events in “Sinister”, a protective mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her 9-year-old twin sons (real-life twins Robert and Dartanian Sloan) find themselves in a rural house marked for death. At the helm of this is a demon who abducts children to do his dirty deeds. I’m not going to beat around the bush here; this movie had no reason to be made, other than Blumhouse Productions desire to spend ten dollars on a film to make ten times that back. That budget isn’t accurate, but it certainly feels like it with the effects and production costs that went into this movie. Underwhelming CGI effects, terrible makeup work, and overacting are just a few of the charming traits that this movie had. To anyone who read my review of the original film, i greatly enjoyed it. The movie used shocking imagery shot in a 35mm camera, which was very innovative during an era where all horror films and POV. That movie also gave us characters to get behind and appreciate. The scares didn’t have to come cheap, because the tension was always building around that family. I feel like the sequel and in particularly, Director Ciaran Foy, has never watched that 2012 film. Everything feels completely different here. If it wasn’t for the presence of Bughuul, the movie easily feels like a turned down “Children of the Corn” script, complete with corn stalk scenary and laughably bad performances from children who are trying to be menacing. I’m sure someone out there finds this terrifying, but i have always laughed when children are used as the main antagonists in a horror film. My reasoning comes to life during a final fight scene that is laughable for it’s dialogue reads, but incredibly short in actual conflict time because an adult will always kick a kid’s ass. END OF STORY. I guess i shouldn’t insult the kids too much because Sossamon’s fake Southern accent, despite her and her kids living in Illinois is hilarious. I’m not saying it’s not possible for her to have a Southern accent, but it’s even less believable when she goes noticeable stretches without it. Jump scares all over the place in this movie, despite the shrieking coming out of nowhere. Does a bowl shriek when you move it? Does a computer’s webpage shriek when it pops up on the monitor? All of what i have mentioned would be easy to overlook if the death scenes are done well. THEY ARE NOT. I get that children are in control of the camera during these murder scenes, but does the camera work have to be done so damn badly? I could barely make out a church scene involving rats and a bucket, and the only reason i knew what it was is because i know it’s used as a Russian form of torture. I also didn’t understand the ongoing direction of the film. The movie treats the audience like it hasn’t seen the original film or the trailer for this movie, because our characters treat it as a mystery that the children are the ones being possessed by Bughuul. From an audience standpoint, this only wastes the already paper thin run time of 91 minutes by rehashing the same kind of conversations that we had in the first film. I wouldn’t have a problem with a sequel that rips off most of it’s gags from the better film, but nothing is up to par here. The only reason the film’s score is even remotely chilling is because they use a lot of the same tones from the first film. I only wish they would’ve showed us that film in it’s entirety all over again. The ending is of course aggravating because nothing gets solved. We don’t feel like we are any further in the storyline after being submitted to this kind of torture, and it leaves the door open for more sequels. “Sinister 2” is not only the worst horror film that i have seen in 2015 (And that says a lot), but it’s one of the worst horror sequels to a good first film that i have ever seen. The sense of dread is gone in this sloppy sequel, except for the dread that lingers in your less occupied wallet space for spending money to see this wreck. Perhaps the best thing about it is that i am already forgetting valuable points to the movie, because this review should be three more pages.

2/10

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