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.