We live in a technological world where computers beam information from across the world. Videos, music, films — we consume massive amounts of media on a daily basis; even the old, the VHS tapes laying in a bin or rolls of film stuck in a crawlspace, draw our fascination and curiosity. “Sinister” and its recently released sequel play to that aspect of human curiosity and obsession using it as an atmosphere to create fear.
I’ve always been fascinated by horror movies that use media as a means of “transmitting” the curse/monster. In “The Ring,” one of my all-time favorites, the viewing of a VHS tape brings on the wrath of the ghost of a little girl that kills her victims in seven days. In the Sinister franchise, the same rule applies, but the artifact is Super 8 footage of gruesome murders committed by possessed children, who later have their souls claimed by the demon, Bagul.
In “The Ring,” the ghost of the girl, Samara, has a clear motive — she wants to share her story with as many people as possible, and the only way to escape her wraith is to make a copy of the tape and pass the curse on to someone else. There wasn’t any clear motive in the original Sinister, but the sequel hints the families in the videos might not be as perfect as they seem. The film takes on the subject of abuse within the family and how that affects each member of family, especially the children.
I think the two largest divides that differentiate horror involving the use of mass media from other horror genres is their random indiscriminate nature and their immersive nature.
Many horror movies focus on a male monster or murderer attacking mostly female victims, yet in these films, everyone is fair game. In movies like this, involving cursed tapes or other forms of media, the monster attacks everyone with equal gusto, implying the audience itself might not be safe from its ire.
“The Ring” in particular emphasizes how random the occurrence is. The main character unwittingly stumbles upon the tape, watches it and events build in tension, falling out of control from there.
The immersive nature of these movies comes from the fact that you are viewing the footage along with the character. The viewer has a privileged perspective, at least suspecting that things are about to go severely amok, but you are still somewhat at the mercy of the monster. You, along with the protagonist, share in common the memory of the tape, creating a new sense of intimacy with the film itself.
Something similar occurs with “found footage” horror movies, but the sense of sharing isn’t as present. The viewer is usually watching the final transmission of some poor dead or missing soul rather than living the horror with them.
Overall, “Sinister 2” was well acted but fairly cheesy. It had some good, cheap scares but fell kind of flat. Where the film succeeds is in its use of turning technology on its head and using it against the characters and the audience, creating a sense of dread and tension.
Watch the trailer below:
