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''Sinister 2'' (stylized in marketing as ''Sinister II'') is a 2015
supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common theme ...
directed by Ciarán Foy and written by Scott Derrickson and
C. Robert Cargill Christopher Robert Cargill (born September 8, 1975) is an American screenwriter, novelist, podcast host, and former film critic known under the pseudonyms Massawyrm (on Ain't It Cool News) and Carlyle (on Spill.com). Cargill currently resides in ...
, serving as a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the 2012 film '' Sinister'', and stars James Ransone, reprising his role from the original film, alongside
Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon () is an American actress, director, and musician. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', '' The Rules of Attraction'' (both 2002), '' The Order'' (2003), ...
. The film follows the now ex-deputy as he attempts to put an end to Bughuul's curse, while a boy is being tormented by the entity's previous victims who lived in the house where he, his twin brother, and mother now reside, hiding from his abusive father. Unlike the first film, which utilized 8 mm film in the story's home movies and
snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...
s, this film utilized 16 mm film,
vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
, and
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
broadcasts in the film’s storyline. ''Sinister 2'' was a co-production of Entertainment One,
IM Global IM Global was an American independent film and TV production company, The company was founded by Stuart Ford in April 2007 and operating in international film, television and music production, as well as sales and international distribution. The ...
,
Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as '' Paranormal Activity'', '' Insid ...
, Steady Aim Productions, Tank Caterpillar, Inc., and Automatik Entertainment, and released on August 21, 2015, by Focus Features through their Gramercy Pictures banner in the United States, and Entertainment One in the United Kingdom. The film received negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its
jump scare A jump scare (often shortened to jumpscare) is a technique often used in horror films and video games, intended to scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a loud, jarring sound. The j ...
s, horror clichés and story, while Ransone's performance received some praise. The film grossed over $54 million against its reported budget of $10 million.


Plot

The film opens with a home movie depicting a family of three. The family is bound and hung up like
scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...
s with sacks over their heads in a cornfield and burned alive. It is revealed to be the nightmare of 9-year-old Dylan Collins, who is squatting in a rural farmhouse next to a deconsecrated church, with his twin brother Zach and their mother Courtney, who are all running from Clint (Courtney's abusive husband and Zach and Dylan's father). Dylan is visited nightly by a group of ghostly children who coerce him to watch " home movies" of families being murdered in various ways (''Fishing Trip'', ''Christmas Morning'', and ''Kitchen Remodel''). Former sheriff's deputy "So-and-So", now a
private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
, is researching the murders connected to Bughuul and burning down the homes where each murder took place before another family can move into them, including the house where the Ellison Oswalt massacre took place. He arrives at the farmhouse, but finds the family living there, telling Courtney he is there to investigate the church where a murder took place. Clint shows up at the farmhouse to take the boys, but leaves after the Deputy informs he needs a court order. Courtney wants to leave but the Deputy convinces her not to, knowing that leaving would continue the murders connected to Bughuul. Courtney invites him to stay overnight, and the two develop a budding romance. The Deputy meets with Prof. Stromberg, who has come into possession of a
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
that belonged to Prof. Jonas, who has mysteriously disappeared, revealing that the radio first belonged to a
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
family from 1973. He plays a recording of a young girl yelling to her mother before killing her family and playing the piano. Prof. Stromberg reveals that Bughuul was believed to be reachable by ritual/sacrifice and to have been feeding on the corruption of innocents, with three common traits present: a murdered family, missing children, and an iconological totem/offering in the form of art as an "aesthetic observance of violence", in order to summon Bughuul. The Deputy orders Stromberg to destroy the ham radio. Zach becomes jealous of the ghost children's attention to Dylan and begins to act out. The children show Dylan the video of the church murders (''Sunday Service''). After Dylan refuses to watch the last movie, the children turn their attention to Zach and abandon Dylan, saying he is not their real target. Dylan watches the last reel (''A Trip to the Dentist''). Clint arrives with the court order and Courtney goes with him to protect her sons. The Deputy drives to Clint's home to warn them about the danger, but Clint beats him up and threatens the Deputy to leave. The next day, Zach films his family in an outdoor hangout. That night, Dylan contacts the Deputy for help as he and his parents lose consciousness. Courtney, Dylan, and Clint are drugged and hung on scarecrow posts with sacks over their heads in the cornfield by Clint's house (similar to Dylan's nightmare in the opening scene). A possessed Zach douses his family in three separate trails of
gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...
, lights Clint on fire, and films his death. The Deputy arrives at the Collins' residence, finding and hitting Zach with his car. He frees Courtney and Dylan as they flee into the cornfield. However, Zach survives and chases after them. Inside the home, the ghost children try to help Zach find them. Just as Zach is about to kill Courtney and Dylan, the Deputy manages to destroy the camera, breaking the cycle. Zach is shamed by the ghost children for failing. Bughuul appears and as punishment Zach's body decays rapidly, with a cloth projection screen bursting into flames, causing the house to catch on fire as the Deputy, Courtney, and Dylan escape. Later, while collecting his things to leave with Courtney and Dylan, the Deputy finds the ham radio in his motel room with the ghost children begin speaking through it as Bughuul quickly appears.


Cast


Production


Development

A sequel to ''Sinister'' (2012) was announced to be in the works in March 2013, with writers Scott Derrickson and
C. Robert Cargill Christopher Robert Cargill (born September 8, 1975) is an American screenwriter, novelist, podcast host, and former film critic known under the pseudonyms Massawyrm (on Ain't It Cool News) and Carlyle (on Spill.com). Cargill currently resides in ...
returning, but the former not directing as he did on the first film. On April 2014, it was announced that Ciarán Foy would direct the film, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Charles Layton, Xavier Marchand, and Patrice Théroux would executive produce the sequel with eOne Entertainment.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on August 19, 2014, in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. It was shot for six weeks in locations including St. Anne and outside the village of Grant Park.


Post-production

On May 20, 2015, Focus Features relaunched their Gramercy Pictures label for action, horror, and science-fiction films. ''Sinister 2'' was one of Gramercy's new releases.


Release

''Sinister 2'' released theatrically in the United States on August 21, 2015, and was distributed by Focus Features.


Home media

''Sinister 2'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 12, 2016.


Reception


Box office

The movie grossed $27,740,955 domestically and $26,363,270 internationally. The film earned $850,000 in ticket sales from late-night showings on Thursday and by the end of its first week, the movie earned $10,542,116, lower than its predecessor which pulled in $18,007,634.


Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave the film an approval rating of 14%, based on 91 reviews with an average rating of 4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Sinister 2'' has a few ingredients that will be familiar to fans of the original; unfortunately, in this slapdash second installment, none of them are scary anymore."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gives the film a score of 32 out of 100, based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. IGN awarded it a score of 1 out of 10, rating it "unbearable". The site says, "''Sinister 2'' is an abysmal follow-up to its predecessor. At least that film knew that less is more. And less is scarier." MoviePilot also awarded the film 1 out of 10, calling it "one of the worst horror films of the last few years."


Future

Prior to the release of '' Insidious: The Last Key'',
Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum "Jason Ferus Blum was born in LA in 1969 to Shirley Neilsen, an art professor, and Irving Blum, an art dealer" (; born 1969) is an American film and television producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, whic ...
stated that a crossover film between ''Sinister'' and the ''Insidious'' series had previously been in development, tentatively entitled ''Insinister'', and that he personally believed it had potential for re-entering it, stating that "we're going to cross our worlds at some point".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinister 2 2015 films 2015 horror films Films shot in Chicago American sequel films Films about snuff films American ghost films American supernatural horror films Blumhouse Productions films Demons in film Entertainment One films Focus Features films Gramercy Pictures films Films produced by Jason Blum Films about nightmares Films about domestic violence Films about child abuse Films scored by Tomandandy Films set in farms Religious horror films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films