‘Sinister 2’ Trailer: Hide Your Kids, the Boogeyman Is Back

We got our first peek at Sinister 2 just a few days ago with a brief teaser for the film, which proudly boasts itself as scarier than Sinister. That’s a pretty big promise to make. The first full-length trailer has now arrived, sporting even more of those eerie 8mm films, a whole group of spooky kids, and yes, the boogeyman is back, too. This time around it looks like Mr. Bughuul has been very, very busy.

Sinister 2 expands on the mythology established in the first film, by explaining why the boogeyman needs to slaughter all these nice families in their nice homes (which all kind of look the same, no?) — as with the traditional notion of the childhood boogeyman, Bughuul’s intention is to take the souls of these little kids after he murders their families. And then he turns them into Children of the Corn, apparently.

I’m not a huge fan of horror sequels delivering too much information about the hows and whys of an enigmatic, murderous entity. That has a tendency to undercut their effectiveness and make them a little (or a lot) less scary. It’s good to see that the best, spookiest part of the first film — those 8mm film reels — has returned in the sequel, though.

Sinister 2 stars Shannyn Sossamon as a mother who moves to a new, peaceful home with her two twin boys, who quickly find themselves hounded by Bughuul. James Ransone reprises his role as Officer So and So, and it looks like he’s been given a lot more to do as the big hero of the sequel.

Sinister 2 hits theaters on August 21.