Bughuul is back, and he’s looking to once again feed off the innocence of children.

Deputy So & So (James Ransone) left the force shortly after those horrific events with the Oswalt family. He is now on a mission to ensure that that chain of tragic deaths doesn’t continue. He spends his time trying to make sure the homes in which the murders occurred remain vacant, and that some unsuspecting family doesn’t unwittingly end up the next link in the murder chain. However, So & So soon discovers there is a second, parallel chain of deaths, and that the next murder/victim has already set events in motion.

Courtney Collins (Shannyn Sossamon, Wayward Pines) is a young mother who is trying to get away from an abusive relationship, but her husband Clint (Lea Coco, Millennial Parents) has some powerful friends in law enforcement. She and her twin sons, Zach (Dartanian Sloan) and Dylan (Robert Sloan), move into a home adjacent to an abandoned church. However, the church was the sight of a mass murder—one of the events in the parallel chain—and now Bughuul has set his sights on corrupting one of the Collins boys.

Shortly after moving in, Dylan starts having nightmares, picturing his family being burned on crosses. He also sees the ghosts of dead children, all of whom murdered their families. They convince him to join them for movie nights, where they watch the kill films each has created of his or her murderous actions. Dylan doesn’t like what he sees, and wants to stop watching the films. The children tell Dylan his nightmares will stop if he watches all of the films. What he doesn’t know is that if he does, he will join the children as one of Bughuul’s minions. The children get more and more threatening as Dylan pushes back, but if this peaceful boy can’t even harm a spider, how are they going to convince him to kill his family?

Meanwhile, ex-deputy So & So researches everything he can find on Bughuul in hopes of putting an end to his terror and breaking the chain for good before it’s too late for the Collins family. And since events are already in motion, he must also prevent the Collins family from leaving the home before he can find a way to stop Buguul.
 

Sinister 2 is a worthy follow-up for fans of the original. The film has several make-you-jump moments as well as some end-of-your-seat situations. While Buguul himself really creepy, his band of ghost kids may be even more so. While there is this tense story that builds over the course of the movie, much of the horror comes from the gruesome kill films. If you “enjoyed” watching those kill films in the first movie, the good news is that the new batch even more disturbing. And this time around there’s even an accompanying record that is played along with each film which adds an extra level of creepiness to the movies.

This sequel felt like a natural progression from the first film. Using the character of Deputy So & So to link the two movies works great. He gives fans of the original a direct connection into this film. And for those who haven’t seen Sinister, he serves as sort of a narrator when he explains what’s going to the other characters.

In the first film, we didn’t know who or what was responsible for the deaths. The second film takes advantage of the fact that this is no longer a mystery, and explores the Buguul myth in greater detail. In the original Sinister, we only saw the events from the perspective of the adults who ultimately become the victims of the next child in Bughuul’s deadly chain. However, in this sequel we learn more about how this evil creature brings the kids into his fold and uses them to recruit the next child, who ultimately creates the next kill film in the chain.

I really liked the cast and characters of the film. James Ransone’s Deputy So & So was one of the highlights of the first film and it’s great to see him back in this expanded role. Shannyn Sossamon gives a strong dramatic performance as the troubled woman just trying to do her best for her sons. And the twins are great—each boy has his own distinct personality, and the young actors are able to deliver on both the normal and creepy sides of their characters.

One of the main issues I had with this film (as well as with the first Sinister movie) is that it relies on the gruesome kill films for a lot of the horror more than from the story itself. There are quite a few of these films, and each time one is show, it feels more like an interruption rather than a natural part of the flowing narrative.

As for the Blu-ray presentation itself, the picture and sound quality are top notch. The picture captures every gruesome detail in great clarity while the soundtrack surrounds the viewer with unsettling music and creepy sounds to bring the atmosphere of the film to life. The Blu-ray includes iTunes and UltraViolet Digital HD copies of the film, and the disc contains 9 minutes of deleted scenes, a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and and entertaining feature commentary with the director. Plus, for those with a really dark curiosity, the kill films are made available in full.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:13)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy (See NBCUcodes.com for Redemption Deadline):

• iTunes Digital HD Copy
• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy redeemable via Universal, Flixster or Vudu

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (9:22)
  A collection of 5 fully-completed deleted scenes. Two weren’t really needed because they don’t provide any new information, two are alternate versions of some events in the film, and the last is an alternate ending. Out of these, I think “Stupid Bird” is the only one I would have liked to have seen in the film as it would have helped to explain one character’s reaction later on. The alternate ending opens up more questions than it answers versus the existing ending. Play All or select from “New Chain”, “A Late-Night Warning”, “Stupid Bird”, “Lipstick” and “Stomberg’s Last Drink”.
• Extended Kill Films
  For those with morbid tastes, you can watch each of the kill films in their entirety. (Though I cannot guarantee you won’t receive a mysterious video camera in your attic once you complete them all.) Select from:
  • “Fishing Trip” (1:32)
  • “Christmas Morning” (1:34)
  • “Kitchen Remodel” (1:41)
  • “A Trip To The Dentist” (:35)
  • “Sunday Service” (3:05)
  • “Cornfield”(3:11)
• Time to Watch Another: Making of Sinister 2 (10:11)
  The filmmakers talk about how the second film came about, reuniting most of the original production team, finding a new director, giving the story a link to the first film, casting the kids, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, audition clips of the kids, and interviews with producer Jason Blum, director Ciarán Foy, stunt coordinator Jim Fierro, fire coordinator Eddie Fernandez, stunt performer Eddie J. Fernandex Jr., effects designer Roy Knyrim, makeup artist Rob Hinderstein, and stars James Ransone (“Ex-Deputy So & So”), Shannyn Sossamon (“Courtney Collins”), Robert Sloan (“Dylan Collins”) and Dartanian Sloan (“Zach Collins”), Lucas Jade Zumann (“Milo”), Jaden Klein (“Ted”), Laila Haley (“Emma”), Nick King (“Bughuul”) and Lea Coco (“Clint Collins”).
• Feature Commentary with Director Ciarán Foy (1:37:13)
  The director gives an interesting and detailed commentary throughout the film. He gives further insight into what’s happening in the story on screen, while also discussing why he made certain directorial choices. He gives viewers a nice glimpse into the production process, and shares a lot of behind-the-scenes stories.

Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Sinister film as a lot of the horror came more from the gruesome kill films rather than from the story itself. The sequel is more of the same, though maybe slightly less so. That said, I did find the overall story and characaters interesting, and the film provided some unexpected twists and some nice scares. The Blu-ray’s audio and video presentation is great and the disc contains some entertaining bonus features. I think fans of the original film will really enjoy this sequel as it expands upon on the legend of Buguul and gives a look at another side of his machinations, but other folks may want to rent it first.

Sinister 2 is currently available on Digital HD, and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 12, 2016.