SINISTER was one of the best horror films I had seen since the start of the millennium, so much so that I knew it would be virtually impossible to replicate it in a sequel. I was right, but not for the typical reasons. To begin with, the film keeps its original creative team, so there's a solid continuity with the first film. The problem comes not from the execution so much as the story: SINISTER 2 is trying to be PART 2 and PART 3 in the same film, and the narrative demands pull it in 2 different directions, which is what weakens it.
The A Plot is the strongest, following the Deputy from SINISTER on his quest to destroy Bughuul's agenda on Earth. He's terrified, out of his depth, and all alone, but his nervous Dudley Doo-Right demeanor in the face of evil makes him achingly likable. The B Plot involves a battered wife played by Shannon Sossamon, who is hiding herself and her twin boys from her powerful and psychopathic abusive husband on an abandoned plot of land, unknowingly placing her family in Bughuul's cross-hairs. The C Plot involves the ghosts of Bughuul's victims trying to corrupt one of the twins into becoming another statistic.
The problem is that the A Plot is so focused that the narrative needs the B Plot to slow the movie down. The Deputy is so competent in his quest that without the B Plot, the movie might be over in 40 minutes. So the B Plot, which feels like a story from another movie, literally intrudes on the A Plot to complicate things, and that's where the horror movie clichés come in: jump scares, spooky-house-searches, inconvenient phone calls and unexpected errands to distract people from finding solutions too quickly, etc. The B Plot is fine on its own, but it doesn't gel right with the A Plot and you can feel the difference.
The A and C Plots however, are fairly solid. Not only do they get right to the myth-building, but they also help flesh out that Bughuul is more powerful and dangerous than SINISTER led us to believe. Not only has he been busier and for much longer than previously suspected, but he's also ruthlessly determined to eliminate those who would stand in his way, regardless of dimensional barriers. The C Plot is thin, but the child actors are surprisingly good, and they drive home the point that maybe the kids who go missing from the murders aren't as innocent as they seem. There is a massive plot hole as to why they would serve as agents for the god who is slowly consuming them, but there's also clear indications that they aren't who they used to be, another hint of Bughuul's power.
The film kind of breaks some of its own rules for the sake of action towards the end, but thankfully, it doesn't wallow in the weaknesses of traditional horror films...it just trips on them a lot to pad out the running time. I have to admit, I was impressed at how SINISTER 2 derails our expectations about how things are going to go the same way SINISTER 1 did. The ending feels rushed and familiar, but getting there is more exciting and uncertain than it is for most sequels.
My guess is that SINISTER 2 is supposed to get most of the slower parts of a franchise out of the way so the future sequels don't get bogged down too. SINISTER 2 might just be the road bump on the path to a faster and leaner SINISTER 3 and/or 4.
The A Plot is the strongest, following the Deputy from SINISTER on his quest to destroy Bughuul's agenda on Earth. He's terrified, out of his depth, and all alone, but his nervous Dudley Doo-Right demeanor in the face of evil makes him achingly likable. The B Plot involves a battered wife played by Shannon Sossamon, who is hiding herself and her twin boys from her powerful and psychopathic abusive husband on an abandoned plot of land, unknowingly placing her family in Bughuul's cross-hairs. The C Plot involves the ghosts of Bughuul's victims trying to corrupt one of the twins into becoming another statistic.
The problem is that the A Plot is so focused that the narrative needs the B Plot to slow the movie down. The Deputy is so competent in his quest that without the B Plot, the movie might be over in 40 minutes. So the B Plot, which feels like a story from another movie, literally intrudes on the A Plot to complicate things, and that's where the horror movie clichés come in: jump scares, spooky-house-searches, inconvenient phone calls and unexpected errands to distract people from finding solutions too quickly, etc. The B Plot is fine on its own, but it doesn't gel right with the A Plot and you can feel the difference.
The A and C Plots however, are fairly solid. Not only do they get right to the myth-building, but they also help flesh out that Bughuul is more powerful and dangerous than SINISTER led us to believe. Not only has he been busier and for much longer than previously suspected, but he's also ruthlessly determined to eliminate those who would stand in his way, regardless of dimensional barriers. The C Plot is thin, but the child actors are surprisingly good, and they drive home the point that maybe the kids who go missing from the murders aren't as innocent as they seem. There is a massive plot hole as to why they would serve as agents for the god who is slowly consuming them, but there's also clear indications that they aren't who they used to be, another hint of Bughuul's power.
The film kind of breaks some of its own rules for the sake of action towards the end, but thankfully, it doesn't wallow in the weaknesses of traditional horror films...it just trips on them a lot to pad out the running time. I have to admit, I was impressed at how SINISTER 2 derails our expectations about how things are going to go the same way SINISTER 1 did. The ending feels rushed and familiar, but getting there is more exciting and uncertain than it is for most sequels.
My guess is that SINISTER 2 is supposed to get most of the slower parts of a franchise out of the way so the future sequels don't get bogged down too. SINISTER 2 might just be the road bump on the path to a faster and leaner SINISTER 3 and/or 4.