A Filmmaker's Review: "Sinister 2" (2015)

Now, let's start off with the fact that I really quite enjoyed the first "Sinister" movie and after that, I got quite excited for the second. I was in my second year of university when it hit the screens and so, I was all ready and prepared to watch it. The first time I saw the second movie, I didn't think too much of it and probably would've given it 1/5 if that. Afterwards, I started looking around in the film - scenes and themes, connections and symbols and realised that it is quite a clever film. Even though the concept is overused, the film itself is clever in its portrayal of the story.

It's not really as fluid as the original film because it has to first start off somewhere. From the moment you see the deputy, you should know who he is and so, this gives a connection to the film beforehand. The problem here is he keeps telling people that he was friends with Ellison Oswalt. It happens at least three times. After, it was tiring to listen to.

This repetition also happens with the videos of the families dying. After one or two videos, it's okay - after four, it's tiring. There's so many of these videos and it takes up a great deal of time of the film - after falling ineffective in the fourth viewing session, I think I can honestly say that leaving it at two would've made more of an impact.

On the whole, I think that this film is a good way of saying that they’re trying to do something different with the storyline. There’s been some obvious attempt at people trying to find out who the Bogeyman is and so, with that we have the prevalence for history and truth throughout probably explaining why there are so many videos. The prevalence of history makes the reason for so many videos and the prevalence for truth makes light of the fact the husband probably deserved what he got. The cathartic section of the film is the death of the children’s father because he’s so disgusting as a human being, I believe that his death was supposed to lead us towards the end of the film. Since it is after this that the climatic section kicks in. Believe it or not, it was probably a good thing for those kids that this particular man was no more.

When we come to the end of the film, we have a brief look at various bits and pieces of the house. We have a look at how far away they were when they left. The fact that they were all the way out far means that the distant screaming sound the deputy heard before their deaths would’ve been the correct volume for where he was standing in comparison to the family. This is an accurate reading and so, gains a mark for its portrayal of realism. However, the time taken for them to get back after the father dies compares strangely when up against how long it takes the deputy to get to the family and stop Zach. It takes the deputy shorter (I know he’s in a car) as he travels in a straight line. But, it takes roughly the same amount of time for them to get back to the house on foot and so, this is what I have a problem with.

The scene set inside the house is far too long to be climatic. It starts off with hiding Dylan and Courtney and the deputy running around like a headless chicken. But when it comes to atmosphere, because of the length of the scene, all of it is practically lost in exchange for long shots of children running around the house and climbing the stairs. At the end of the day, the film is made to entertain - and long drawn out shots that try to give effect but end up boring, are not entertaining.

All in all, though the film is a good on and does have it’s pros - it also has a number of cons and so, doesn’t get full points. It has though good acting, a good concept and good writing - though it doesn’t have good timing of positioning of scenes.