Sinister 2 Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

Scott Derrickson might have co-written this sequel, but his directorial expertise is sorely missed in Sinister 2. This is an incredible disappointment compared to its predecessor.

Genre: Horror / Mystery  

Director: Ciarán Foy 

Cast: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan, Lea Coco, Lucas Jade Zumann, Nicholas King, Tate Ellington & John Beasley.

Run Time: 97 min.

US Release: 21 August 2015

UK Release: 21 August 2015

German Release: 17 September 2015

In all honesty, this release took me by surprise. It wasn’t on my radar at all, and I missed out on all the marketing… assuming there even was any. The reason for my ignorance might be that Scott Derrickson’s Sinister felt like a self-contained story, and I never expected a sequel to enter production. So imagine my surprise when I discovered it was slated for release this week in Germany.

Unfortunately, this sequel does exactly what I feared it would. It takes everything that made the first one so unnerving and tosses it aside, replacing it with exaggerated family drama, countless jump scares, and some of the most annoying ghost children ever put on screen. Not exactly an improvement…

Taking place roughly three years after the Oswalt family murders, Sinister 2 follows a mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her twin sons (the Sloan siblings) who are squatting in one of the abandoned houses where a sacrifice to the demon Bughuul once took place. Hiding from her abusive husband (Lea Coco), the boys' father, the family unknowingly triggers the next cycle of killings.

Meanwhile, Deputy So-and-So (James Ransone) has become a private investigator after being dismissed from law enforcement. He now follows the trail of murders, burning down the homes connected to previous sacrifices, in an attempt to prevent further tragedies.

Predictably, the two storylines converge, awkwardly introducing a romantic subplot while revealing a clichéd family backstory through some dreadful dialogue. In between, one of the children spends much of the runtime watching homemade snuff films purely for the sake of violence. 

Whoever greenlit this sequel should seriously reconsider their profession because, apart from being one of the most boring follow-ups to a genuinely great horror picture, it also tarnishes the legacy of Derrickson’s original. Ciarán Foy helms the sequel and he is clearly out of his depth. The runtime feels too long for such a thin plot; the narrative is mishandled and painfully obvious, and the mystery and suspense of the original are replaced with one cheap jump scare after another. The violence, which served a purpose in the first one, is amplified purely for shock value.

It is one of the more forgettable horror films in recent memory, and not only because of the story. The performances are, for the most part, equally laughable.

I don’t like to criticise child actors, as they are still learning their craft. However, the performances here are among the weakest I have seen. And I don’t necessarily blame the young performers themselves; I blame the director for failing to guide them properly.

The strongest of the young cast is Robert Daniel Sloan, who plays Dylan and serves as the flick’s primary child protagonist. His twin brother, by comparison, spends most of the runtime acting aggressively for little reason, resulting in an unconvincing emotional performance. Worst of the bunch, however, is Lucas Jade Zumann, whose portrayal of one of the ghost children is painfully wooden, as well as incredibly irritating.

Lea Coco is terdreadful as the douchebag husband and father. His performance feels cartoonishly, over-the-top evil, while many of his lines border on offensive caricature. It's almost as if director Foy told him to ham it up, because there wasn’t enough time to develop the character and the audience needed to hate him immediatley.

Shanyn Sossamon as Courtney, the mother, gives an alright rendition, though there’ nothing groundbreaking about the role. Unfortunately, her character may be the most unaware person on the planet. James Ransone reprises his role as “Deputy So-and-So”, easily the most likeable character in this feature. Sadly, he has also been written rather thinly. 

The cinematography mirrors the quality of the screenplay, awkwardly jumping from scene to scene without much purpose. Just like the original, this one incorporates the old Super 8 home-movie footage for the murder tapes. However, this time those sequences exist solely for violent spectacle, rather than psychological torment. The colour palette is dominated by an ugly sepia filter that becomes visually exhausting. All in all, this is a massive step down from Derrickson’s masterpiece. 

Even the music represents a significant decline from the eerie score of the first movie. This time around, it's composed by the musical duo Tomandandy, who deliver a grating, nerve-shredding score.

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Verdict: The first Sinister remains one of the most terrifying and suspenseful horror flicks I have seen in recent years. It featured excellent performances from Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance and especially child actress Clare Foley. Sinister 2 has none of that! The plot? Bland, weighed down by a weird romantic subplot that feels unnecessary. The child ghosts are unbearably annoying, while the performance by Lea Coco is a melodramatic parody. Summing it up, this movie is one of the bigger disappointments of the year! I can’t give it more than a 2.0 out of 10. Skip it!

So, Sinister 2 have you seen it? I sincerely hope not, but if so, let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading!