HOLLYWOOD—If you’re someone who didn’t see the first “Sinister,” you might be slightly lost watching “Sinister 2.” The flick while a sequel is not directly connected to the first installment beyond the return of Deputy So & So by James Ransone. Yes, the name alone is slightly interesting and hilarious for a spectator to hear time and time again.
Minus the disappearance of star Ethan Hawke, this chapter revolves around Collins family who find themselves targets of the evil Bughuul (Nicholas King). Yes, the argument can be made that Bughuul is a villain that could be frightening to say the least based on facial appearances to say the least. What I find interesting about the narrative for “Sinister 2” is that the focus is on the imminent threat of innocence: a child.
Dylan (Robert Daniel Sloan) is having terrifying nightmares where he is visited nightly by ghostly kids who force him to watch disturbing videos courtesy of Super 8 technology of families being murdered. I will admit some of the images are beyond disturbing and slightly unsettling for the viewer in my opinion. Dylan’s twin brother, Zach (Dartanian Sloan) is developing a bit of jealously that these ghostly aspirations are visiting his brother instead of him, cue the transition to a battle of sibling rivalry.
Working to protect her family from the ghostly sightings and her abusive husband Clint (Lea Coco) is Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon). Sossamon plays the role of mother in peril well, but her character is a bit aloof to the strange happenings that are occurring to her family. She does develop a bit of dialogue with Deputy So & So who has made it his mission to halt Bughuul from targeting the murder of anymore families on his clock.
The scares come in small doses, but to no degree where the audience is actually surprised by what spooks come their way. More fear is divulged from watching disturbing footage ala “Blair Witch” style. The biggest problem with the flick is the inability to actually connect and care about any of the characters. The twins at most are core characters that the audience directly connects with simply because of the peril that surrounds them. Not just from Bughuul and the ghostly apparitions, but from their father as well.
Director Ciaran Foy does his best to capture the action and manifest an atmospheric element to intensify the scares, but things fall flat. “Sinister 2” falls into the same trap as most modern day horror flicks which rely on obvious tactics from the past. A lack of originality, a clear narrative, a villain that actually feels threatening and characters that we care about make “Sinister 2” a movie that never had a chance to begin with.
