Sinister 2 (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Film Sinister 2

1. This feverish experience is one of the best horror films of the year.

2. You don't have to see the first movie to see this one, but I highly recommend it. The context of the film won't make a lot of sense without it. And part of the intensity of this movie is because you know the secret, but the people in the movie don't.

3. It follows Deputy So & So after the events of the first film. Obsessed with stopping Bughuul, he comes across a woman with two sons who have unkowingly attracted the pagan deity. While the mother deals with her ex-husband, dead kids appear to one of the boys and show him snuff films in the basement (if the snuff films in the first movie bothered you, you should know that these are worse).

4. As with the first movie, the use of sound in this film is an experience in itself, expertly cutting together music and effects to heighten the hallucinatory nature of what's going on.

5. In a super rare occurrence for a horror film, there is actually a second plot line. I mean, this is like a real movie. While some will be annoyed by the extra story because it takes away from the supernatural stuff, it's a great development that makes the characters real people, so that you actually care what happens to them. It's also a grim reminder that some things in real life are just as scary as a ghost.

6. The movie quickly but cleverly uses an obscure, but actually real, phenomenon known as "numbers stations" to give a greater scope to Bughuul's actions.

7. There are some good jump scares in the movie. But the filmmakers know the difference between a "scary movie" and a "horror movie". By making the film rated R, they gave up some viewers that would have seen it if it were PG-13. They use that harder rating to their full advantage, making this an actual horror film. This movie is NOT for kids.

8. There is a quick, easy-to-miss conversation between two characters that bring up the idea of "aesthetic observation of violence." If you want to get all meta, you can apply that concept to the movie you're watching, and get some uncomfortable insights into the nature of horror itself.

9. If you like your horror movies to be the flash-bang generic type, like "The Conjuring", then this film may not be your thing. But if you want your horror movies to mean something, to stick with you, and even make you genuinely uncomfortable, then you owe it to both yourself and the horror genre to watch this film.