A same-old, same-old savagely brutal sequel
Sinister 2
K (out of 4) Starring James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon. Directed by Ciaran Foy. 97 minutes. At GTA theatres. 14A.
Another creepy old house, another family in peril, another sequel that doesn’t seem all that necessary.
Sinister 2 does at least try to stray outside the template of the original Sinister (2012) with a new family dynamic.
Otherwise, it’s the same-old, sameold in terms of an ancient spirit who looks like a character out of a carnival haunted house, a spooky setting and the depiction of grisly death.
The ineffectual deputy sheriff (James Ransone) from the original is back in an expanded role, having failed to save the Oswalt family in the first film.
The new family consists of a mom fleeing an abusive husband with her two sons, Dylan and Zach. The now ex-deputy, moonlighting as a private eye, encounters her by accident. She and the boys are hiding out in an old farm house when he arrives with a gas can, planning to torch the place to prevent another occurrence of familicide.
At first, it is Dylan who’s lured to the basement to watch gruesome home movies by Milo (Lucas Jade Zumann), soon joined by a cadre of other ghostly brats.
Needless to say, the films — labelled Fishing Trip, Christmas Morning, Kitchen Remodel and Sunday Service — do not constitute what one would regard as quality family time.
A plot twist involves the other son, Zach (Dartanian Sloan), who, as it turns out, is far better suited than his gentler brother to carry out the evil spirit’s murderous game plan. It’s a Cain and Abel sort of thing that’s mildly interesting.
Shannyn Sossamon plays equally ineffectual mom Courtney with some feeling, but it’s pretty much a weepy distressed damsel sort of role. Ransone brings an appealing sad- eyed earnestness to the role of the twitchy ex-deputy.
Robert Daniel Sloan is actually very good in the role of the tormented Dylan, while Lea Coco plays the abusive dad with such relish, one can’t help but hope he gets what’s coming to him. (Spoiler alert: he does.) There’s plenty of things that go bump in the night, a moody, ominous score and director Ciaran Foy does a reasonable job of trying to stoke the tension.
But the storyline is so predictable, it never really engages. We may learn more about the evil old Bughuul, but who cares if he’s previously spent time in Norway?
Is this some lame attempt at character development?
The home movies themselves are as inventively appalling as ever. One involving hungry alligators and another involving rodents is so horrific, they might actually cross an invisible line.
Ghost stories are one thing. But if you enjoy this kind of explicit onscreen mayhem or have teenagers who do, it may be time to consider family counselling.