Sinister 2
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Review: The second, film Sinister 2 uses three objects that as a plot tool, the first film uses super 8 film, this one uses a vinyl record, a ham radio, and 16mm film. It begins with three people on crosses in a rural cornfield, one of the crosses catches fire, killing that person. It starts off with the same type of element that the fist film had, it went with it and it worked. The Deputy from the first film, So & So (James Ransone) is in the confession booth, revealing that he is no longer a deputy, because of the Oswalt case. Now a private investigator, protects folks by burning down the house he believes Bughuul has been in. Oh and by the way Bughuul is the big bad guy, scary looking dude that appears in the most random of places. The next character is new, Courtney Collins (Shannyn Sossamon) she has marital issues, divorced, and alone, her abusive ex-husband, Clint Collins (Lea Coco) he abuses Dylan Collins (Robert Danial Sloan), the twin with the smarts but lacks in courage. Zach Collins (Dartanian Sloan) is a bit head strong, more forceful of both boys, so Clint abuses the weakest boy. A horrible problem that really needs to be addressed, abuse in films bothers me, but the reality of it scares me; That human beings would commit such a thing, especially on children. Anyway, Clint is the antagonist in a way because of the position that the character is in according to the story. Meanwhile Courtney has a house that they're living in with the boys, it just happens to be a house that good old Bughuul has marked for death if anyone tries to leave. Milo (Lucas Jade Zumann), Ted (Jaden Klein), Emma (Laila Haley), Peter Caden Marshall Fritz), and Catherine (Olivia Rainey). The spirits of children that have died by the hands of the evil demon, Bughuul. These children are haunting Dylan in his dreams, and they appear to him, they seem to want something.
The ghost children all are victims, they have a box with 16mm home movies, Fishing Trip, Christmas Morning, Kitchen Remodeling, and Sunday School. Like the first film these home movies are disturbing, violent, and gruesome. All the children show Dylan the movies so that the evil demon can control him and another death or deaths can occur. But, the boy shows strength because he has had enough, so he only has one more movie, he refuses to watch it. The evil children get angry, their true colors come out, they turn undead, the make up was pretty bad, i like the ghost idea, but they turned from a black and white to a gross looking, undead kinda look. Like i said the children part was cool, up until they got pissed and showed up with bad looking teeth. The bad breath must of been unbearable. Let me get into the deputy here, he is the main character who tries to help Courtney and her children, even goes out of his way to get his ass kicked by the ex-husband, Clint. So he gets involved with Courtney, develops some kind of weird relationship, the ex-cop investigates and finds out that indeed Bughuul has marked the house, instead of checking things out so that the family can indeed be safe, he gets a call from Dr. Stromberg (Tate Ellington) he reveals that Professor Jonas from the first Sinister is pretty much missing, gone without a trace. So the Bughuul demon has some Norwegian ties, or the girl on the recording was speaking in Norwegian, which is kinda cool. This part of the film felt rushed, or at least it did to me. The protagonist deputy investigating the the Bughuul cases is fine, it just that his efforts seemed in vain throughout the film. Looking concerned, even a bit afraid, he goes off to see Dr. Stromberg which was written for depth, but it really didn't, it was interesting, but to short to connect everything. The problem here is simple, it failed the family. The writer here wrote this in to tie something cool, scary to the demon. Like a disturbing HAM radio of a child speaking in Norwegian. The radio thing is good stuff, but it derails the story, it pulls you away from the real problem, that's about to hit. The family in the house with ghosts, and a demon, and the ex-husband that will harm anyone at any second. Clint forced his former family to come back with him, it was horrific to see, but it happened. The deputy was elsewhere making a connection to the bad demon. But, he already knew of Bughuul's strength, so going to see Dr. Stromberg was really a waste.
The film had some really good scare moments, but as a whole the film fell short, it really did, because the first film made you think, feel, the movies were disturbing and i did not feel that in Sinister 2 the film was forced, rushed, Ellison in the first film was sickened by what he saw, instead Dylan was watching them like it was a Star Wars movie. The point here is that the home made movies should've been something more, in Sinister 2. Ellison had to put down the movies, he was disgusted, but almost drawn to them, that's what made the first film so good. In the second film we only got the ghosts trying to pull Dylan in, and to me it tanked the film. Maybe if they used only one ghost, as an innocent child who was taken by the demon. Why not have this child slowly pull in Dylan, instead of the children of the corn type feel. I know films have running times, but with a good story, especially a good horror film, anything can happen. Here what should've happened, just a thought. Take out the radio thing and focus on the family, the abuse problems was good, but it wasn't enough, So & So as soon as he found out the house was marked, get to work. The church scenes were good, but again too many children, cut it down to one. The other children were pasts events, that should draw anyone in, especially the Christmas Morning one. Have the relationship between Courtney and the deputy evolve, by having him help her in two ways, against Clint, and finding out how to beat the demon. The movies are the prize, each movie must, and i mean must be scary, disturbing, and the moments with each home made movie must be involved. That is the key to the first Sinister, and what made the first a true classic horror film. The suspense was missing, keep the audience involved, because if you don't the film will fail, it will only be a forced sequel with missing pieces that are key points to an on going story line. Anyway, check it out you might disagree with me, but i think you won't and as i pointed out the problems, hopefully you'll see them as well. Sinister 2 is OK, but doesn't meet it's expectations, it fails where the first film succeeded.
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