By Ben Bussey
Any way you look at it, Blumhouse Productions are one of the most fascinating brand names working in horror today. While they represent the most mainstream end of horror with the vast majority of its output bound for the multiplexes, they also place a significant emphasis on developing new, original properties from up-and-coming filmmakers as opposed to endless remakes, reboots and/or spin-offs of existing franchises – and, most admirably considering they’re working in the mainstream, they also stick rigidly to a rule of never taking the budget beyond $5 million, a highly laudable maxim in an era when $200 million + blockbusters are alarmingly commonplace. For all this, producer Jason Blum and co are absolutely worthy of our respect and admiration, and I truly hope the years ahead see the company continue to go from strength to strength while maintaining its core principles.
But then, however, there’s the small matter of the quality of Blumhouse’s output. Let’s not beat around the bush, it’s been variable at best. Paranormal Activity may well have become a popular sensation, turning out a gargantuan profit margin and spawning a string of sequels which packed them in at cinemas worldwide, but I doubt I’m alone in saying the first movie left me cold and the sequels saw me progressively less interested. Insidious: the first one I quite enjoyed, the second one was basically the same movie all over again, and the third – again, I didn’t have the interest to check it out. We could go on. However, to give Blum and co some credit, I get the feeling they recognise this. Look at some of the films they’ve made, and the filmmakers they’ve supported: say, Rob Zombie on The Lords of Salem, Mike Flanagan on Oculus, and now Citadel director Ciaron Foy on this film, Sinister 2. These aren’t random music video and TV commercial guys taking on a horror movie because it seems like an easy gig, like, say, most of the directors who ever work with Platinum Dunes; these are filmmakers who are really serious about horror. Maybe they fire a little wide of the mark at times, but they are at least aiming for the bullseye with sincerity.
So it is with Sinister 2. It’s not a great modern horror masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but damned if it isn’t trying to be. (Of course, I’d say the same of the original Sinister, which a lot of people seemed to adore.)
Picking up at some unspecified point after the events of the first movie, Sinister 2 introduces us to Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon), a furniture restoration specialist living temporarily at a remote house on the grounds of the church she’s currently working on, whilst adjusting to life as a single mother with her twin sons. It’s apparent almost immediately that the break-up of her marriage was far from amicable, and her estranged husband – a man of significant wealth and influence in the community, as well as an abusive scumbag (funny how often those two go together) – is doing everything in his power to get her and the boys back with him. But of course, just when it seems they already have enough to be anxious about, the boys start having some strange experiences in the old house by night: visits from mysterious children, who introduce them to some old 8mm home movies which bear a striking resemblance to those Ethan Hawke’s crime writer found in the first Sinister. You don’t even need to have seen the first movie to know that things don’t look too great for this young family. Still, help may be at hand when a mild-mannered ex-cop turned private detective – James Ransome reprising the role of Deputy So-and-So (the end credits literally list him as ‘Ex-Deputy So-and-So’) – turns up with some understanding of what’s going on. But will that be enough to save them all from either the child-beating ex or the ghoulish Bughuul before it’s too late?
Through my day job at Yahoo Movies UK, I got to speak to Jason Blum recently (note: the interview will be published later this month), and he told me that the main impetus behind making a second Sinister was to further explore Bughuul, feeling they had the beginnings of a truly iconic monster in there. I find it slightly curious, then, that Bughuul doesn’t really come into play much in Sinister 2. I guess the problem is, if you think of any of the really great horror bad guys – from the classic Universal monsters to the Freddys and Jasons, and even Jigsaw – these are characters who really get their hands dirty, who are there in the thick of the action. I’m not sure that can really be said of Bughuul in either film, who’s seemingly more of a puppet master figure, and only appears briefly now and then. Honestly, given that the first Sinister didn’t make much impression on me, I struggled to recall quite what Bughuul was really all about, how he operates – and with the sequel’s additions of ghostly kids as go-between, his role in proceedings is even more minimal. As such, if the hope had been to build Bughuul into a new horror icon, I’d have to say Sinister 2 unequivocally fails to do this – and given that Blum also told me there are no plans to make a third film, I guess Bughuul will never get to sit at the big boys’ table now.
This is not to say, however, that Sinister 2 fails in every regard. I don’t think it successfully builds a coherent mythology from what was established in the first movie, but as it’s still got plenty of tension, drama and moments of real despair. Ciaron Foy’s first film Citadel demonstrated his ability to balance supernatural thrills with more down-to-earth causes of fear and anguish, and while Sinister 2 doesn’t get quite so harsh in either respect, it comes close at times, with the ex-husband and the fall-out of his abuse – one son shrinking further into his shell, the other coming to imitate his father’s aggression – proving more disturbing than any of the murders and supernatural content.
James Ransome’s return is welcome, and it’s nice to see what might have started out as a bit of a comic relief character develop into the hero of the piece without losing his essential innocence, and Shannyn Sossamon does fine with what the script (from returning writers Scott Derrickson and C Robert Cargill) gives her to work with, but when all’s said and done Sinister 2 doesn’t really prove an especially memorable experience. Still, it’s nice to see Ciaron Foy getting his foot in the door stateside, and I certainly hope this will lead to greater things from him (again, Blum has suggested that it might) – and while it proves to be another Blumhouse production that’s ultimately less than satisfying, it does give me some hope that the company are at least leaning in the right direction.
Sinister 2 is available for digital download in the UK on 14th December, and DVD and Blu-ray on the 28th, from Entertainment One.