Name : Andrew Barker / Alias : Variety
Anyone who found the original a cut above the average horror pic will likely leave the theater disappointed, if not downright insulted.

Name : John Semley / Alias : Globe and Mail
Nothing in Sinister 2 comes across as believably scary.

Name : Keith Uhlich / Alias : AV Club
Not a moment of Sinister 2 is convincing or frightening, mostly due to the uber-stilted child acting and the flat, overlit visual palette, which pales in comparison to what Derrickson and cinematographer Chris Norr achieved on the shadow-laden first film.

Name : Kyle Smith / Alias : New York Post
A serviceable if somewhat redundant horror sequel that dribbles out its secrets slowly, "Sinister 2" doesn't have a particularly satisfying end - it's somehow both too drawn-out and abrupt - but it's got creepiness galore.

Name : Rafer Guzman / Alias : Newsday
Creepy kids and sick jokes make for meager scares, but Ransone is likable as the film's beleaguered hero.

Name : Wesley Morris / Alias : Grantland
There comes a point when you have to say no to these horror sequels. There's no skill or idea visible anywhere, just the sound of money being sucked from your pockets.

Name : James Berardinelli / Alias : ReelViews
Although Sinister 2 continues the story begun in Scott Derrickson's creepily effective Sinister, it feels more like an unnecessary retread than an organic extension of the original.

Name : Robert Abele / Alias : Los Angeles Times
Nothing about "Sinister 2" comes close to the feel-bad ode to literally and figuratively dark interiors that distinguished the title-earning original.

Name : Andy Webster / Alias : New York Times
Despite Mr. Ransone's goofy charm, "Sinister 2" can't claim the same finesse, substituting pedestrian plotting and a more graphic gore for the original's restraint.

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : New York Magazine/Vulture
This sequel, as rough as it is, might be more worthwhile than its 2012 original.

Name : Katharine Pushkar / Alias : New York Daily News
Baghuul . looks like the lead singer in a Norwegian forest metal band.

Name : Justin Lowe / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
Sinister 2 comes up a bit short on creative resources, although director Ciaran Foy probably gets enough right to entice those partial to the original.

Name : Kyle Anderson / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Sinister 2 doesn't know what it wants to be, and doesn't add up to much.

Name : Michael Rechtshaffen / Alias : Los Angeles Times
[A] stagy, overstuffed costume drama.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
A drama of redemption by way of an American Revolution history lesson, Chad Burns' action-adventure yarn offers little in the way of subtlety or surprise.

Name : Neil Genzlinger / Alias : New York Times
The actors get a chance to create a real relationship, and they make the most of the opportunity.

Name : Linda Barnard / Alias : Toronto Star
While not perfect, low-budget Spring takes welcome risks with the creature-feature genre.

Name : Tom Keogh / Alias : Seattle Times
This oddball film's mashup innovations often come at the price of storytelling discipline and, to some extent, common sense.

Name : Joe Leydon / Alias : Variety
If Richard Linklater attempted a remake of Val Lewton's Cat People, the end result might resemble Spring.

Name : David Ehrlich / Alias : Time Out
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's Spring is a clever and severely romantic creature feature that, not unlike its dim-witted bro hero, is in desperate need of a woman's touch.

Name : A.A. Dowd / Alias : AV Club
Horror invades the proceedings, but it doesn't hijack them. The film continues to zig where others might zag.

Name : Trevor Johnston / Alias : Time Out
A cousin to Richard Linklater's 'Before Sunrise' trilogy, with little hints of Lynchian unease along the way.

Name : Alan Scherstuhl / Alias : Village Voice
The suspense and pleasure of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's talking-and-tentacles horror romance Spring lies in discovering what shape the film is going to take.

Name : Colin Covert / Alias : Minneapolis Star Tribune
A landmark of irresistible weirdness, "Spring" brings horror out of its long winter hibernation.

Name : J. R. Jones / Alias : Chicago Reader
The protagonist of this low-budget indie is so well characterized that it might have developed into a straight drama instead of the horror movie it becomes, though of course that's the key to most good genre films.