Sinister 2 [Blu-Ray]

Director: Ciarán Foy 

Cast: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon

Release Date: Available on Blu-Ray & DVD January 12, 2016

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of the shocking events of Sinister, a protective mother (Shannyn Sossamon of Wayward Pines) and her nine-year-old twin sons (real-life brothers Robert and Dartanian Sloan) find themselves marked for death in a rural house as the evil spirit of Bughuul continues to spread with frightening intensity.

In the sequel to the creepy hit thriller, ‘Sinister 2’ introduces us to a new family, following single mother Courtney (Sossamon) who along with her two sons in tow constantly keeps in motion, always paranoid and in fear of being discovered. Upon taking temporary residence in an abandoned old church home, unsettling events and visions begin plaguing one of her sons, spirits of other passed children forcing him to accompany them to the basement in order to watch their snuff films, surely simultaneously prepping him to create his own for the terrifying demon Bhughul. As events continue to escalate, Ex-Deputy So and So (Ransone) who witnessed the events that occurred in the original film and has dedicated his life since to eradicating Bhughul, sets out in an attempt to help Courtney and her sons before it’s too late, additionally forced to deal with events that have been plaguing Courtney and her children for some time and have now returned front and center.

Directed by Ciarán Foy (Citadel) from a script penned by Scott Derrickson and C Robert Cargill who also wrote the original, Foy does a solid job at the helm of ‘Sinister 2’ adequately capturing the dreadful tone introduced by its predecessor, even if the story is in many ways fairly similar. Only one cast member from the original reprises their role in the sequel, the deputy (now credited as Ex-deputy So and So) portrayed once again by James Ransone. Newcomers to the cast this time around include Shannyn Sossamon (TV’s Wayward Pines), real life brothers Robert Sloan and Dartanian Sloan, in addition to a number more, all of whom deliver competent performances at the very least in each of their respective roles.

‘Sinister 2’ delivers plenty of thrills, creepy moments and unsettling imagery, largely courtesy of a new collection of homemade snuff films from the latest batch of twisted kiddies in which we are introduced to throughout the film. While following the same basic story and general outline as its predecessor, the sequel does provide us a look at the familiar course of events through an alternate perspective, namely that of the child being pulled into their evil ways as opposed to the adult experiencing and deciphering it such as in the original. Unfortunately that is the only notable difference between the two stories, although while it may not bring a great deal of new material to the table, it does a more than competent job in delivering what many fans surely want and while the original is somewhat more notable, ‘Sinister 2’ nonetheless serves as a more than competent and enjoyable sequel.

Overall, ‘Sinister 2’ doesn’t contribute much of anything new to the overall story aside from an alternate perspective of the events occurring within, although more importantly (at least to many) it definitely delivers no shortage of jump scares, unsettling moments and some new and horrific super8 films that are sure to please the genre fans. Even without doing much to further the series or being a monumental event in horror, genre fans and those who enjoyed the first entry in the series are quite likely to thoroughly enjoy it and will absolutely want to give it a watch at the very least.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Sinister 2’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks wonderful in every way, delivering a sharp, detailed and nearly flawless video presentation from start to finish and holding up admirably even during the fast moving and darkly lit sequences which are fairly common within the film, never resulting in anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is an impressive high definition video presentation that should easily satisfy the masses.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds fantastic, providing a clean, sharp and notably aggressive audio presentation, regularly utilizing all five available channels in order to surround the viewer with the films wonderfully eerie and fitting score in addition to any number of action related auditory effects along with some jump scare companions and more, while never causing any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a fantastic 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Sinister 2’ includes a number of enjoyable extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Ciarán Foy’. Also included are a number of ‘Deleted Scenes’ (running approximately 9 minutes in length altogether), along with ‘Extended Kill Films’ featuring extended versions of each of the films included within the film, these include ‘Fishing Trip’ (running approximately 2 minutes in length), ‘Christmas Morning’ (approximately 2 minutes), ‘Kitchen Remodel’ (2 minutes), ‘A Trip To The Dentist’ (1 minute), ‘Sunday Service’ (3 minutes) and ‘Cornfield’ (3 minutes). Lastly we are treated to a behind the scenes Featurette titled ‘Time to Watch Another – The Making of Sinister 2’ (10 minutes) which includes behind the scenes footage and interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Film Rating: 6.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

‘Sinister 2’ Arrives On Blu-Ray & DVD January 12, 2016; Now Available on Digital HD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

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