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Sinister 2
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Entertainment One Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (22nd December 2015). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and Extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Beware. Children at play. In the aftermath of the shocking events in Sinister, a young mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her twin sons move into a rural house that has been marked for death by the murderous evil entity Bughuul. As she tries desperately to protect the children from Bughuuls corrupting influence she is blindsided by his past victims who converge on the house to try and convince one of her sons to murder the family and join their ranks.
Video
Major distributor Entertainment One have released the $10million budget sequel to 2012's successful horror film Sinister on to Blu-ray in the United Kingdom using the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is 1080p and receives an AVC MPEG-4 encode. As you would expect for a new title which received a wide cinema release, the transfer is very good. Filmed with an Arri Alexa Plus camera using Cooke anamorphic lenses, there is not a whole lot to complain about here. External daytime scenes show good natural colours, and strong details in the foliage surrounding the house. Darker scenes, both external and internal, also showcase high levels of details, and whilst there is some very minor crush on occasion, details in the shadows are often impressive, especially within the basement. The kill tapes are where the real highlights of this transfer are though. The faux damage that shows the age of the footage is done really well, with heavy grain, dirt and scratches all adding to the tense, creepy and atmospheric nature of these sequences. Certain elements are of course intentionally muted, but even the most anti-digital viewer will not complain about how detailed this is, despite the darkened environments. It should come as no surprise that there is no damage to be found here, or any major anomalies such as digital noise reduction or aliasing. There are also no obvious compression issues. Overall, this is a very strong transfer, though not exceptional. The feature is uncut and runs 96:48.
Audio
Three audio options are included: - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo - English Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing, I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, and it was as good as expected and exactly as I remembered it being from a cinema viewing a few months back. The score by tomandandy - who have done everything from Mean Creek to The Rules of Attraction - is fairly formulaic, but it does do a good job in building up the tension and helping to create a creepy atmosphere. The surrounds are well utilised, especially during the kill films where we can hear the whir of the camera and light scratches in the audio to give the feeling of old home movies throughout the sound stage. Environmental effects such as creaking floorboards and insects outside the house in external daytime scenes all sound great. Dialogue is clear at all times, and there is no unintentional damage or background hiss. It isn't quite reference quality, but I don't have any complaints. Subtitles are available in English for the hard-of-hearing.
Extras
We start of the extras with an audio commentary with director Ciarán Foy. This solo effort is pretty good and Foy rarely stops talking so we don't get any real dreaded dead spots. He manages to cover quite a wide range of topics, mainly sticking to various elements of the story and the connections and differences to the first film. He also touches on some technical aspects, the score, the casting, the locations, and more. I did like his smaller conversational topics like kids watching horror films at an early age and whether they would be scared in real life, but without someone else present to chat about these themes with, Foy quickly moves on. Next up, we have a selection of Deleted Scenes: - Play All (9:42) - "New Chain" (1:12) - "A Late-Night Warning" (2:40) - "Stupid Bird" (1:40) - "Lipstick" (2:05) - "Stomberg's Last Drink" (2:02) These are essentially just filler scenes which were likely cut for pacing issues. The late night warning scene is quite tense for James Ransone's character but doesn't really suit the tone of the film, so I think removing it was a good decision. The stupid bird scene however, should have been in, especially with how it shows the relationship between the two brothers continue to escalate. Extended Kill Films: - "Fishing Trip" (1:34) - "Christmas Morning" (1:37) - "Kitchen Remodel" (1:43) - "A Trip to the Dentist" (0:38) - "Sunday Service" (3:07) - "Cornfield" (3:14) This is rather self-explanatory. During the film, we are shown several kill films which are an integral part of the story line, and this is just slightly longer versions of each one. They can be quite brutal, with "Fishing Trip" being the best of the bunch in my opinion. The "Time to Watch Another: The Making of Sinister 2" featurette clocks in at 10:10, and is quite a standard low-key making of that wouldn't be out of place as one of those quick special filler programmes on a movie channel. This is mainly made up of cast and crew interviews, though we do get to hear about how certain scenes were filmed, with the rat scene the obvious highlight for anyone who has already seen the feature. This is a watch once featurette. The #SinisterHomeMovie Competition Winning Short Film is entitled "Birthday Wishes" (dir. Elliot Maguire) and runs just 51 seconds. The makers of Sinister decided to run a competition to make a "Kill Film" like those found in the movie and this was the winner. There are also some Start-up Trailers: - "The Green Inferno" (1:08) - "Allegiant" (1:42) - "The Last Witch Hunter" (1:51) - "Mississippi Grind" (2:24)
Overall
The film might be a distinctly average horror sequel, but the presentation is solid and there is a decent selection of extras.
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