Despite handicapping itself by trying to convince movie-goers that “Bughuul” was a scary name for a horror-movie villain, 2012’s Sinister was a surprisingly effective little film. Ethan Hawke gave a great performance as an egocentric author humbled by the supernatural, and director Scott Derrickson managed to make the threat of “Mr. Boogie’s” creeping influence feel palpable and real. Unfortunately, neither of them are returning for Sinister 2, although Derrickson did write the script. But, as a new teaser trailer reveals, what the sequel lacks in returning talent, it more than makes up for in corn, the scariest of the leafy-stalked grain plants.
In fact, what with all the cornfields, scythes, and creepy-eyed children in the trailer, Sinister 2 seems less like a sequel to Sinister than a new installment in the classic horror franchise Children Of The Corn (or, as the Native Americans knew it, Children Of The Maize). How scary you find all that will be entirely dependent on how frightened you are by biofuels, middle-class preteens, and whispered threats from someone whose voice threatens to break with every word. But the first Sinister looked kind of dumb at first glance, too, and that film turned out to be pretty great.