Turn the lights off in your bedroom, turn the sound up on your TV, but lock all the doors and windows if you choose to watch “Sinister 2” in the safe confinement of your home. If you choose to watch it at the movie theater, go when the sun is still shining and don’t walk down any back alleys where you might mistake a shadow for the boogeyman, also known as Bughuul.
And maybe avoid eye contact with small children.
Unlike many horror films, you don’t need to have seen this one’s predecessor. James Ransone (“Old Boy”) plays the very likeable Ex-Deputy So & So, who is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious murders having to do with the demon Bughuul. With his quirky and heroic attributes, he brings both comedy and solemnity to the film. Shannyn Sossamon (“Wayward Pines”) plays Courtney Collins, recently separated mother of two who must deal with her unstable, psychotic husband and try to maintain custody of her boys, Dylan and Zach.
Meanwhile, Dylan (Robert Daniel Sloan, “Bad Teacher”) and Zach (Dartanian Sloan, “New Girl”) are dealing with complexities of their own. Mysterious ghost children with the same unsettling pallor are seemingly everywhere the boys go, mainly at nighttime, and only seen by them. They force Dylan to watch a series of self-made snuff films that show the different ways each of them massacred their own families, one of which includes a spine-tingling scene involving alligators and upside down suspensions.
On another, more refreshing note, “Sinister 2” takes an interesting dramatic twist when Courtney’s husband, Clint Collins (Lea Coco, “J. Edgar”) comes to play, who is debatably scarier than Bughuul himself. Abrasive, arrogant and detrimental, he adds real life horror to the film. The two plots tie in smoothly for a captivating sequence of events, leaving you interested and on the edge of your seat for the full hour and 37 minutes.
Throughout the film, even in the first few scenes, action scenes are constant. There is never a dull moment, whether it be the early shots which prompt immediate intrigue during a church confessional, chaos at the grocery store or short flashes to death scenes. The visual effects play a large part in this, creating believable and thrilling Bughuul moments. You’ll come to find that he often appears out of nowhere or in what seems like every dark area, from laptop screens to doorways.
Far from corny, the film is full of jumps, some laughs and thorough enjoyment for all scary movie lovers, or just movie lovers in general.
Not to be watched with small, creepy children.
Rating: 4 out of 5
