Movie Review: Sinister 2 (2015)

Sinister 2 is a 2015 supernatural horror movie directed by Ciaran Foy and stars James Ransone and Shannyn Sossamon in the leads. The movie follows a woman who is trying to win a custody case over her abusive husband, while her two boys named Zachary and Danny find a series of tapes in the basement (much like the original Sinister flicks) shown to them by ghosts in their house. I reviewed the original Sinister movie a long time ago and I was really entertained by it. I thought it was a really good, suspenseful, creepy movie that actually succeeded as a horror movie. However, Sinister 2 does none of that. While it's true that the acting from Sossamon is great at times, the rest of the characters don't really give very good performances and they don't seem very well crafted. One of the things about the first Sinister movie that was something I actually liked was how it was creepy and yet not in your face about it. This movie misses that because it's composed entirely of jump scares. First jump scare is the only one where I actually jumped. The rest of it is somewhat startling, but doesn't match up to the psychological horror of the first installment in this series of flicks. Something startling and making you jump isn't what actually creates a scary and horrific atmosphere. What does that is creating a disturbing plot. That leads me to my next issue which is that the story line doesn't really suck you in. I felt bored and disengaged with this movie multiple times and was even checking the time around the first half hour. It gets very boring and dull at parts and doesn't really give you a story which leads to a thrilling adventure. Now as a horror movie goes, I'm sure teenagers and younger peoples will jump and shriek and moan at all the right moments, but that is not what this movie was supposed to do. Overall, Sinister 2 doesn't live up to the original as it really misses what made Sinister 1 very creepy. 1.5 stars