While most horror film sequels are content to pick up the remains of the previous film and give audiences the laziest rehash of what we've seen and jumped at before, I'll give the makers of SINISTER 2 points for at least taking us in an entirely new direction with its chronicle of the further demonic adventures of Bhughul, who terrorizes entire families via old home movies. It's a variation on the found footage theme, in which the characters in the film are the ones watching the found footage, and it's literally leading most of them to their death.
Once again working from a script from SINISTER director Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, SINISTER 2 is directed by relative newcomer Ciarán Foy, whose 2012 CITADEL is easily one of the creepiest, most anxiety-inducing films of that year (the same year of SINISTER, I should add).
Perhaps without meaning to, Foy seems to specialize in movies about creepy children, and in the case of this sequel, there are a great number of kids to make us afraid. More on that in a second. SINISTER 2's focus is on the Collins family—mother Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon) and twin sons Dylan and Zach (played by real-life brothers Robert Daniel and Dartanian Sloan), who secretly move into a small farmhouse in downstate Illinois in an effort to hide from her abusive husband.
In a parallel storyline, the sole returning character from SINISTER—James Ransone's Deputy (or Ex-Deputy) So & So—is now a private detective who investigates the death of the Oswalt family from the first film, deciding that the killings are tied to the properties they lived on. He sets out to burn down the homes where these killings took place, and when he arrives where the Collins family is, he decides to make friends and see what happens while he stays on the property.
In the meantime, a small group of dead children has decided to haunt one of the two young brothers, not so much to scare him, but to tempt him into the basement to watch several of the Bhughul kill films, many of them featuring these very children. But the question is, are these kids the victims or co-conspirators with this evil force. We're led to believe that if the living boy watches all of the films, Bhughul's power will somehow be at its peak, and a new film will commence with this family. I should mentioned that the creativity on display with these new kill films should make horror fans particularly happy, especially one set in a barn on the property where the Collins family lives.
The true stars of SINISTER 2 are the children—both living and dead—and a great deal of credit goes to young Lucas Jade Zumann as the lead ghost Milo, who dresses like a young Amish lad and does a tremendous job alternating between calming and terrifying. When the other brother feels like he's being left out of something cool, he takes steps to befriend these ghosts as well, with disastrous results. I was especially impressed with the way the film leaves Courtney completely in the dark for most of the film that anything supernatural is happening at all in her home. She's far too pre-occupied (as she should be) with protecting her children from another demon in the form of her possessive and vindictive husband.
Ransone continues his strong work from the first film, blending an intense protective quality with a levity and charm that is hard to define but easy to see. He gets to take on Bhughul more directly this time out and spends a great deal of the film spotting the demon out of the corner of his eye, in reflections, or dipping in and out of the darkness of a room. The cumulative effect is fairly nerve-wracking, and he plays it like someone who knows he's being messed with by the dark forces he's chosen to take on. The film manages to give us a glimpse into Bhughul's history without boring us with a full-on backstory, and thank god for that; nothing is less scary than a history lesson about a supernatural killer.
Although SINISTER 2 takes a different route to get us there, the film is still pretty solid and certainly has plenty of scares. I'll admit, I miss Ethan Hawke's acting chops here. There's nothing inherently wrong with Sossamon's performance, but having her be somewhat distanced from the scary stuff makes her character less than crucial. Whether you think the film succeeds or fails is likely going to hinge on your response to the child actors, who I thought were terrific. I hope that if the filmmakers take another crack at this franchise, they continue to change up the structure and give us something new to make sure we (or they) never quite find a comfort zone.
