‘Be careful, children at play.’
Sinister 2 is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Ciaran Foy (Eli) from a screenplay by co-producer Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose; The Messengers; Deliver Us from Evil) and C. Robert Cargill (The Outer Limits). Also known as Sinister II
A sequel to Sinister (2012), the film stars Shannyn Sossamon (One Missed Call; Catacombs; The Order) and James Ransone, reprising his role from the original film. The unsettling synth score was composed by tomandandy (47 Meters Down; Havenhurst; Animal; et al)
The film took $52,882,018 at the box office worldwide on a reported budget of $10 million.
Plot:
Hiding from her abusive, estranged husband, Courtney Collins lives in a rural house with her nine-year-old twins, Dylan and Zach. Young Dylan receives nightly visits from ghoulish kids who show him disturbing images of families being slaughtered.
It is all part of the grand plan of Bughuul, the evil spirit who recruits innocent children to murder their loved ones. The only hope for his intended new victims may be a former deputy who’s familiar with Bughuul’s fiendish work from the past…
Reviews:
“Every 15 minutes or so, to remind us this is a horror movie, one of the kids ventures down to the basement where the ghost brats force him to watch Super 8 footage of previous murders. These sequences are jarring in tone, and exceptionally grim in their depiction of murder, which often disturbingly includes infanticide. The overall effect is of watching a run of the mill Lifetime domestic abuse drama into which some sick joker has edited snuff footage.” The Movie Waffler
“There are many lines in the film worth singling out in jest, but the absolute best is Deputy So-and-So yelling, “You’re not going to finish your movie!” Let’s hope that’s the truth and this is the end of Sinister. But if the sequel is even a mild success, Bughuul’s more modern manifestation — as a shrieking computer virus — might prove to be the most appropriate aesthetic parallel: cheap, annoying, and damn near impossible to get rid of.” IGN
“With their anodyne titles (“Kitchen Remodel”) and grinding soundtracks, these bloody offcuts remain credibly unsettling. It’s the framework thrown up around them that feels makeweight: a Peeping Tom story rushed through as quiet-quiet-LOUD popcorn-spiller, with replacement players gabbling footnotes to the original legend and a shoddily edited hide-and-seek finale.” The Guardian
“There’s a kernel of a good idea here about how abuse is a beast in and of itself, with Bughuul representing, to some degree, the Collins family’s demons made flesh. Yet Sinister 2 never delves deep into that thematic thread, preferring to expand its mythology in the way of so many diminishing-returns horror sequels. Because if there was one thing Bughuul needed, it was a convoluted backstory…” A.V. Club
“Sinister trafficked in musty horror riffs (old technology à la V/H/S; almost-other-dimensional house interiors, as in Insidious; very naughty kids, as in Children of the Corn”), but benefited from actors like Mr. Hawke and inestimably from Christopher Norr’s high-contrast, deep-focus cinematography. Despite Mr. Ransone’s goofy charm, Sinister 2 can’t claim the same finesse, substituting pedestrian plotting and a more graphic gore for the original’s restraint.” The New York Times
“Second-time director Foy employs a fluidly floating, constantly tilting camera to open up the house environments, and the film at least looks like a modern horror pic, but it’s hard to overemphasize just how little Sinister 2 offers in the way of real goosebumps.” Variety
” … features more of those talking-point 8mm family snuff films, staged as very nasty jokes, and spends more time with the pack of well-spoken, malicious spectral kids who are agents of the boogeyman. However, the story ties itself in knots to cope with its extraordinarily complicated curse and the occasional decent scare doesn’t elevate it much from the Insidious/Paranormal pack.” Empire
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Cast and characters:
James Ransone … Ex-Deputy
Shannyn Sossamon … Courtney Collins
Robert Daniel Sloan … Dylan Collins
Dartanian Sloan … Zach Collins
Lea Coco … Clint Collins
Tate Ellington … Doctor Stomberg
John Beasley … Father Rodriguez
Lucas Jade Zumann … Milo
Jaden Klein … Ted
Laila Haley … Emma
Caden M. Fritz … Peter
Olivia Rainey … Catherine
Nicholas King … Bughuul / “Mr Boogie”
Claudio Encarnacion Montero … Alex
Trailer:
Timeline:
