Line #113 Film/Sinister


1	[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sinister_Poster_9910.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:290:That's a lovely painting.]]
3
4	->''Once you see him, nothing can save you.''
5	-->-- '''{{Tagline}}'''
6
7	''Sinister'' is a horror film directed by Creator/ScottDerrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill[[note]]of ''WebAnimation/{{Spill}}'' and ''Ain't It Cool News'' fame[[/note]], [[BasedOnADream inspired by a nightmare]] Cargill had after first watching ''Film/TheRing''. It premiered at SXSW 2012 before getting a wide release in October of that year.
8
9	The film stars Creator/EthanHawke as Ellison Oswalt, a TrueCrime writer who is desperate to write a new hit. In order to do so, he moves his family into a house where a grisly murder took place so that he can write a book solving the case. When he stumbles across a collection of home movies in the attic, he finds that there is more to the case than he thought...
10
11	A sequel titled ''Sinister II'' was released in August 2015, written by Cargill and Derrickson and directed by Ciaran Foy. Creator/JamesRansone reprises his role from the first film, now as the lead, investigating the murders in an attempt to prevent any more killings. Meanwhile, a young mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her twin sons have moved into a haunted house...
12
13	----
14	!! This film series contains examples of:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17	[[folder: Common tropes to both films]]
18	* AnimalMotifs:
19	** Judging by the Middle Age woodcut prints, Bughuul is associated with scorpions.
20	** Dogs and snakes are shown as well. A bit of FridgeBrilliance, since all three were seen in places Bughuul had just been. Scorpions and snakes are also poisonous, fitting in with [[spoiler:the mysterious poison used to paralyze the victims to allow for elaborate executions.]]
21	* ApocalypticLog: Used and mildly deconstructed. [[spoiler: The logs are actually made by the Bughuul's servants and are haunted by him. The logs ''are the cause of the apocalypse''.]]
22	* BigBad: Bughuul[=/=]Mr. Boogie
23	* BrownNote: Seeing Bughuul's film clips puts the viewer at risk. How much they give into the temptations varies, as well as how much at risk they are.
24	* ChildEater: Bughuul, the "Eater of Children". It's more of a "consume your soul" type deal, but his followers apparently took it a bit literally. [[spoiler:The 'eating' part appears to happen VERY SLOWLY - when Bughuul's former victims are seen, they appear to be in various stages of decomposition - presumably the reason there are only 5 of them is that the previous ones have been completely consumed.]]
25	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The murders are incredibly disturbing, and only the most gruesome ones get a GoryDiscretionShot. [[spoiler:The last murder of the first film also cuts away right before the fact, but Ashley's drawing of it spares no details.]]
26	* DeathOfAChild: Right in the first few frames. They still cut away from the most graphic child-deaths, though, or show them only out of focus.
27	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:The true killer in the footage is the missing child of each family, who became a vessel for Bughuul's evil before joining him in his realm]].
28	* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The Home Video titles, especially [[IncrediblyLamePun "Hanging Out."]]
29	* EvilRedhead: [[spoiler: in the first film, Ashley (the only red-headed member of the Oswalt family) falls under Bughuul's thrall, ultimately sacrificing her family to him.]] In the second fim, three of the Ghost Kids have red (or reddish) hair: Ted (Fishing Trip) has reddish brown hair, while Emma (Christmas Morning) and Catherine (Trip to the Dentist) are both redheads.
30	* ForTheEvulz:
31	** The reason why Bughuul [[spoiler:makes the children kill their own families before spiriting them away, which he could have done at any time without involving said families,]] is up for interpretation. The way he [[spoiler:makes them label the "Home Videos" with ironic titles]], as well as the variety and creativity of the murders, hints at least a touch of sheer sadism [[spoiler:and possibly to goad potential victims to watch the movies and unknowingly summon him]].
32	** [[spoiler: Furthermore, given that Bughuul is a deity of images, making visual records of his actions may strengthen him, or his control, or simply be a part of 'worshipping' him.]]
33	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: InUniverse: [[spoiler:So long as an image of Bughuul persists, he can use it to keep a foothold on the material plane.]]
34	* GeniusDitz: [[NoNameGiven Deputy So-and-So]] is GenreSavvy, has a criminology degree, and frequently dispenses useful information. He's also a CaptainObvious and constantly [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Comically Misses The Point]].
35	* GenreSavvy: Deputy So-and-So is quite genre savvy and never lets our protagonist down.
36	* GodOfEvil: Bughuul, if he can really be considered a god at all. His only purpose is to devour the souls of the children that he corrupts just so he can continue to endure.
37	* HauntedTechnology:
38	** All the way from woodcut prints to digital images on a computer. If it can hold Bughuul's image, it can be haunted by him.
39	** The sequel reveals that [[spoiler:a radio transmission is also sufficient.]]
40	* HumanoidAbomination: Bughuul when he manifests is this trope. [[ShmuckBait What else could he be when he looks like]] [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131102171952/villains/images/f/ff/Bagul.jpg THAT?!]]
41	%%* JumpScare: A number of them throughout the movies.
42	* NoMouth: Bughuul, the creature/entity, wears some sort of mouthless mask, or its mouth appears to be sewn shut.
43	%%* NoNameGiven: Deputy So-And-So.
44	* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Though he's never called a ghoul, Bughuul is quite similar to the demonic ghouls of Arabic folklore and the Gallu of the ancient Mesopotamian religions.
45	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: A rather literal example, in that Bughuul eats the actual corrupt souls of children, hence "forsaken".
46	* ReligionOfEvil: In the backstory, where some children were sacrificed to an evil god.
47	* RuleOfScary: Despite fifty years of technological innovation, Bughuul seems to prefer Super 8 film over any other medium. It's most likely because [[spoiler:it's relatively easy to edit Super 8 film, thus enabling him to hold back the information until it's too late to do something about it]], though for practical purposes it's because the silent Super 8 films are just that much scarier.
48	* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:The choice someone has (whether they realize it or not) after Bughuul starts pursuing them is to either move away and be killed brutally by their own child, or to stay in the house haunted by Bughuul and be terrorized by a Pagan god whose only goal literally is to mentally destroy his prey for the rest of their life.]]
49	* ShownTheirWork:
50	** The filmmakers did research on the looks and aesthetics of the Black Metal music genre in order to create Bughuul's look and symbol, to make them look distinctive from the genre. This also helps if keen listeners of the Black Metal genre are able to hear snippets of Norwegian Black Metal-Experimental band Music/{{Ulver}} in the first and second film.
51	** The fashions that the [[spoiler:missing kids]] wore used to be a trend in their respective period. (for example, the raincoat in 'Lawn Work' used to be popular in the 80's)
52	* SpookyPhotographs: …and digital stills, paused footage, woodcut prints, paintings…
53	* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Bughuul is the mythological basis for — and a deconstruction of — the boogeyman. Whereas the boogeyman is usually said to take away children who've done something bad as punishment, Bughuul [[spoiler:corrupts children into evil deeds (specifically, murdering their entire families) so that he can take them back to his world and devour their souls over time for sustenance.]]
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Tropes exclusive to the movie ''Sinister'']]
57	* TheAlcoholic: Possibly. Ellison drinks heavily throughout the movie and it's not clear whether this is just the stress of the investigation or because he has a serious problem.
58	* AmbitionIsEvil: Ellison's fatal flaw. Ellison is so desperate to have another hit book that he keeps investigating, to the point of withholding evidence from the authorities, and ignoring the clear toll it is taking on himself and his family.
59	* AsYouKnow: {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d. "He's twelve years old." "Mom, he knows how old I am."
60	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Bughuul has Ashley murder her family, then carries her over into his world.]]
61	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Bughuul's modus operandi depends upon people actually doing the sensible thing and ''leaving'' a seemingly haunted house.]]
62	* BloodyHorror:
63	** The advertising was pretty bloody, with a commercial of a girl smearing blood on the walls with her hands with the film's title appearing as the blood drips on the wall.
64	** The movie itself pretty much mostly averts this, except for [[spoiler:Ashley's reel]].
65	* CaptainObvious: This gem from Deputy So-and-So:
66	--> "[[ItMakesSenseInContext Snakes don't have feet]]."
67	* ChekhovsGun:
68	** When Ellison spots a huge scorpion in his attic, he drops a heavy box on top of it, breaking and sinking a few of the boards, much to his chagrin. Later, [[spoiler:when investigating odd noises in the attic during a blackout, he unknowingly steps on those weakened boards and falls through. While he's able to hang on for a few moments, it is later revealed that Bughuul's stolen children pulled him all the way down]].
69	** A much more subtle one, almost qualifying for a RewatchBonus, on Ellison's first viewings of the movies, you can see in all of them at some point [[spoiler: the glowing green drug used by Ashley at the end.]]
70	* ChekhovsSkill: Ashley's ability to paint. [[spoiler: Bughuul had extra fun with this; while the other children merely drew his sigil, he had Ashley turn entire hallways into horrific displays in his honor, all out of her own family's blood. Her knowing how to make dad's coffee is a smaller, but equally sadistic, Chekhov's skill.]]
71	* CreepyChild:
72	** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, [[spoiler:when they are in the car and Ellison tells his daughter that yes, they are going back to their old house, she flashes a REALLY creepy smile for just a moment.]]
73	** More generally, [[spoiler:all of the stolen children in the Extended Endings.]]
74	* DeathByGenreSavvy: Ellison starts to display a bit of savviness towards the end. When [[spoiler: it's become readily apparent that he's in a horror movie and it's not just nerves and bad dreams, he ''acts'' like it.]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler:as he finds out too late, this is what Bughuul is relying on. Sweet dreams.]]
75	* DeathByIrony: In a manner of speaking. As far as we know, these aren't {{Karmic Death}}s, since there's no evidence the victims aren't innocent, but [[spoiler:most of the Super 8 films]] demonstrate this trope: [[spoiler:three of the films each introduce a motif in the family's daily life before revealing that the murder is inspired by that motif. The tire swing inspires ''Family Hanging Out '11''; ''BBQ '79'' opens with footage of a normal barbecue; and ''Pool Party '66'' is obviously only possible because the family owned a pool.]] The last two films to be shown flout this pattern, [[spoiler:since ''Sleepy Time '98'' features no buildup before the murder scene, and ''Lawn Work '86'' starts with some RedHerring footage of the family just watching TV,]] but the end of the movie brings this trope back in full force [[spoiler:when the latest murder turns out to have been [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] by the daughter's penchant for wall-painting.]]
76	* DeceptivelySillyTitle: InUniverse. All the Super 8 films have innocent titles, but they're all about murders. ''BBQ '79'' is the family burning in a car, ''Pool Party '66'' is a drowning, ''Family Hanging Out '11'' is a hanging, ''Lawn Work '86'' is a lawn mower attack, ''Sleepy Time '98'' is a family being murdered in their beds, and finally, [[spoiler: ''House Painting '12'' is a family being cut up and the walls painted with their blood]].
77	* DoomedProtagonist: [[spoiler: Every single member of the family dies or is taken by Bughuul.]]
78	* DownerBeginning: The opening scene of the first film is one of the most horrifying on-screen murders ever shown in a movie.
79	* DownerEnding: The only thing stopping it from being even more of a downer is that [[spoiler:Deputy So-and-So has just about all the information about Bughuul and the entire mystery, giving him an opportunity to prevent the deaths of any more families.]]
80	* EnhanceButton: Played with. Once he has learned to record the Super 8 projections with a digital camcorder, Ellison uses the files to examine the videos frame by frame, capture stills, and print images. Zooming into Bughuul's face usually pixelates the hell out of it, but in one notable occasion [[spoiler:it comes out in such clear detail, Ellison himself is startled by it. It's implied that this is Bughuul himself and not just a picture]].
81	* EvilDetectingDog: Ellison is spooked by a stray dog which wanders into his yard and growls at him. [[spoiler:The camera shows that it is in fact growling at the ghost kids standing behind him]].
82	* ExactWords: At the beginning of the movie, Tracy tells Ellison he'd better not be moving the family to live near the scene of a murder again, and he says he's not. Which is true. They're not going to live ''near'' the house where the murder happened, they're going to live ''in'' it. Tracy is less than impressed when she realizes.
83	* FallenOnHardTimesJob: Ellison's motivation for sticking around the house and not informing the police, despite the fact that he has discovered hard evidence of a serial killing. Scenes throughout the movie showed that his previous book Kentucky Blood was a great hit. He was unable to write a second big hit, and was unable to sustain the mortgage on his big mansion. He refuses to demean himself into writing textbooks, and hopes the murders can be his next big hit. The extent of this is only revealed near the end, where their old house is shown to be a two-story mansion.
84	* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}} for Ellison. It drives him to move to the house in the first place, lie to his wife, withhold information from the sheriff, and try to solve the murders himself.
85	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
86	** [[spoiler: While Ellison isn't looking, Bughuul moves in the picture on the laptop to stare at him.]] It seems like just another scare at first, until we learn Bughuul's method of haunting near the end.
87	** Early in the film, it was pointed out that the executions were done [[spoiler:after the victims were drugged, removing the need to overpower them, and one child from the family was never found.]] It was finally revealed that [[spoiler:the missing children drugged their families before staging elaborate kills.]]
88	** In some of the reels, a green glow usually found inside a glass can be seen, indicating [[spoiler:the drugs used on the families. Guess what later appears in Ellison's coffee?]]
89	** The drawings on the inside of the reel box lid have each family member labeled. [[spoiler: 'Dad' and 'Mom']] are always labeled for the husband and wife, making an extremely strong clue that [[spoiler: a child]] murdered each family.
90	** During a discussion with his wife over living on the same house that the family died on, Ellison tells his wife the family didn't die inside the house and that "they didn't have to wash the blood off the walls". [[spoiler: But they will have to in his family's case, given Ashley's painting skills.]]
91	** In the old interview, Ellison jokes about [[spoiler:how he'd rather have his hands cut off than write a book for fame or money. He ends up getting his hands cut off in his pursuit for fame and/or money. Along with his head, legs, arms...]]
92	** When the reels are first seen on screen, they're kept in a particular box with slots for each one. [[spoiler:[[https://i.imgur.com/rQdRKOO.jpeg All but one are filled.]] The Oswalts were doomed from the off.]]
93	** When Ellison first talks with Professor Jonas, the latter postulates that the murders are the result of an initiation ritual for a cult, rather than the work of a SerialKiller, due to the large temporal/geographic span between the killings and the obscurity of Bughuul. [[spoiler: He's not completely off-the-mark; the killers are the missing children of each family, and the murders are indeed their "initiation" for joining Bughuul in his realm.]]
94	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The very last shot [[spoiler: is a JumpScare where Bughuul appears and stares out of the screen. He's looking at ''you''.]]
95	* GloryDays: During one late night, Ellison watches an old VHS of a TV appearance during his first book tour, when he was a new hotshot author. He apparently has many, many tapes of himself.
96	* GoryDiscretionShot:
97	** The videos of the worst murder in [[spoiler: "Lawn Work"]] does not show the carnage outright, choosing instead to pull away to Ellison's horrified reaction.
98	** In [[spoiler: "Sleepy Time", the two adults murders are only shown reflected in Ellison's glasses, and the kid's murder is out of focus as Ellison looks away from the screen and drinks his whiskey.]]
99	* HauntedHouse: [[spoiler:Subverted. It's the images of Bughuul that are haunted - including the images on the hero's laptop, which aren't deleted until ''after'' he runs back to his once-safe home.]]
100	* HellIsThatNoise: The horrible scream in the lawnmower tape.
101	* HereWeGoAgain: A very dark example. [[spoiler: The film ends with a shot of the Super 8 reels, now including an additional depicting the Oswalts' murder, stashed in the attic of the family's original home. The clear implication is whatever family moves into the house next will become Bughuul's next victims, and that the cycle of killings will continue.]]
102	* TheHero: Ellison investigates the films and Bughuul with Deputy So-and-So as his sidekick.
103	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Ellison, along with his wife and son, is murdered by his Bughuul-possessed daughter]]
104	* IdiotBall: Ellison firmly and lovingly grabs it several times:
105	** He chooses not to turn the evidence to the sheriff, choosing to investigate the murders on his own.
106	** After he falls through the attic floor in the blackout, [[spoiler: he opens the camera recording of himself and sees little ghost hands around him as he tries to hang on to the hole, and doesn't do anything about it]].
107	** [[spoiler:After "escaping" Bughuul by leaving what he believes is a haunted ''house'', Ellison chooses to ignore the Deputy's calls throughout the entire day, and only answers at the worst possible time: at night, after having drunk the coffee drugged by his daughter.]]
108	** [[spoiler: Having just heard from the occult researcher about Bughuul haunting images of itself, what does Ellison do when he gets the "Extended Cuts" dumped into his lap with a ''brand new'' set of films and projector? He painstakingly matches up the cuts with the original films, edits them back together, and watches them]]. At no point during this lengthy process does he stop to think it might not be a good idea to continue TemptingFate.
109	* IDrankWhat: Near the ending of the first film, [[spoiler:Ellison glimpses into his coffee cup only to see a faint glowing residue at the bottom. Then he starts to lose strength...]]
110	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Ellison hits the bottle pretty hard. It's ambiguous as to if he has a problem with drinking or if the things he's experiencing are just that terrible. It's also part of the reason he keeps brushing off the signs of the supernatural, as he probably thinks the alcohol is making him see things.
111	* {{Jerkass}}:
112	** Ellison has shades of this. He brushes off his kids so much that it would be safe to consider it some early form of ParentalAbandonment, has a drinking problem (although justified with the things he uses it to cope with), and destroys his relationship with his family by moving to the house for another book. He starts to change near the end, [[spoiler:although an axe to the head stops character development for him.]]
113	** His wife Tracy also has some shades of it. She can't seem to be able to discuss family problems without A) [[HystericalWoman screaming at her kids or Ellison and loud enough that Ellison can hear it while drunk and working]], and B) blaming Ellison for everything, as if he's the one telling his work's crime cases to his kids to get them traumatized and/or making them paint the walls with it. Whatever her worries and points are, she is NOT helping things out and acts less as a supporting loved one and more often as a stress factor for Ellison.
114	*** It is implied at the beginning that their marriage is strained thanks to Ellison's failed follow-ups to ''Kentucky Blood'' and constantly moving house. Tracy explicitly says that if this one didn't work out, she would "take the kids and go to [her] sister's".
115	* JustJokingJustification: In an interview during his first book tour, Ellison claimed that his motivation for writing was "fame and money," then played it off as a joke and claimed that he was actually driven by a desire for justice. Given what we know about Ellison, his answer is suspicious.
116	* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Deputy So-and-So is actually quite competent, eloquent, and does a decent job piecing together the mystery even when Ellison feeds him only small tidbits of information. He just gives the wrong first impression because he's absolutely starstruck with meeting the author of one of his favorite books, and his eagerness to help and earn a note in Ellison's Acknowledgments page annoys the writer.
117	* TheLancer: Ellison's wife, Tracy.
118	* LimitedWardrobe: Work-at-home Ellison spends his time indoors (that is, 90% of the movie, spanning a couple of weeks) wearing an old gray sweater.
119	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Trevor's night terrors are one of the ambiguities - is he having night terrors because of Bughuul, or is it just a coincidence? In-universe, this is why Ellison persists in spite of the creepy things he sees: since ThisIsReality, and many of the things he sees can have mundane causes, he doesn't assume anything is supernaturally wrong [[spoiler:until it is no longer "maybe".]]
120	* MirthlessLaughter: Deputy So-and-So's reaction to hearing that Ellison didn't tell his wife that they moved into the house where the murders took place.
121	* MrExposition: Professor Jonas, who provides all of the background and lore about Bughuul.
122	* NewHouseNewProblems: As to be expected in a supernatural horror film that starts with moving to the location of a violent murder. A mild twist in that [[spoiler:the house itself only matters in that it is the current location of the films.]]
123	* NiceGuy: Deputy So-and-So is friendly, and polite. And when Ellison confides in him about the creepy things he sees, he doesn't patronize him when giving him reasons that there isn't anything supernatural going on.
124	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Had Ellison chosen not to flee the house with his family, they would have survived. Even if he had simply waited a day or two, he would've learned from Deputy So-and-So and Professor Jonas about the connected nature of the murders/Bughuul's possession method, and been able to piece together the mystery without having put himself and his family in line to be the next victims.]]
125	* NightmareFuelColoringBook:
126	** The interior of the lid of the "Home Movies" box, with childish drawings depicting the murders. [[spoiler:And every new child adds his or her own family to it before leaving this world]].
127	** Ashley's wall painting starts off pretty innocently, until [[spoiler: Bughuul's influence changes them.]]
128	* NoPeripheralVision: One scene has a ghost-girl's face appear to the left of Ellison's, only for him not to notice. This is used to establish he can't actually see them.
129	* NothingIsScarier:
130	** The "Lawn Work" reel, which has you waiting on the edge of your seat, knowing what WILL happen, but the ScareChord will still make you jump.
131	** Ellison and Deputy So-and-So's conversation in the living room after Ellison falls asleep with the baseball bat. It's just the two of them discussing the goings-on of the past few days, but the tension in this scene is damn near unbearable.
132	** The cinematography also features a ''lot'' of shots where the characters have their backs to a long dark corridor, and viewers kept expecting something to appear.
133	* OhCrap: The third act is essentially a sustained version of this for Ellison; [[spoiler: after fleeing back to his old home with his family and briefly believing they've escaped the horror, he's informed by Professor Jonas that Bughuul haunts ''images'', not houses, and he hasn't deleted the digital files of the Super 8 reels he scanned from his laptop. He proceeds to find the restored Super-8 films in his attic and is then told by Deputy So-and-So that all the families that had been murdered previously lived in the house when the previous victims were killed, and were then killed ''after'' they moved out. This culminates when Ellison sees a green glow at the bottom of his coffee mug, and then [[CreepyChild Ashley]] appears...]]
134	* TheOner: Used to heart-stoppingly good effect in "Lawn Work", the majority of which is one long shot angled downward on a moving lawnmower. You know damn well the mower's about to run over something it shouldn't, but thanks to the perspective of the long take, there's no warning before the inevitable happens.
135	* OneWordTitle
136	* OnlySaneMan: Surprisingly Deputy So-and-So is the most level-headed character.
137	* OpaqueLenses: The camera pulls away from the "Sleepy Time" home movie, but shows the actual murder through the reflection on Ellison's glasses.
138	* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: "I'll make you famous again, Daddy."]]
139	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
140	** Although the Sheriff's taunt had set up the movie, he does have a point that Ellison choosing to stay in the murder scene to write his true crime novel is a very disrespectful thing to do. Additionally, when Ellison is leaving, the Sheriff is actually concerned that somebody has driven him out of town, and declines to write him a ticket for speeding.
141	** Deputy So-and-So would also qualify, with his concern for Ellison's well-being and GenreSavvy in solving the Bughuul case.
142	* RedHerring: If you've figured out that Bughuul [[spoiler:seduces children and gets them to murder their families]], the recurrence of Trevor's night terrors might make you think he's the next target. [[spoiler:Nope. It's Ashley.]]
143	* TheReveal: After fleeing back to his old house, [[spoiler:Ellison is again contacted by Professor Jonas, who tells him that Bughuul haunts images, not houses. The "Extended Cut" footage reveals the missing children as their own families' murderers]].
144	* SchmuckBait:
145	** The Super 8 reels and projector, which Bughuul leaves in the attic whenever a new family moves in.
146	** Taken even further when [[spoiler:Ellison moves his family back to their old house, and Bughuul leaves the "Extended Cut" endings in his attic. His curiosity gets the better of him once again.]]
147	* TheSmartGuy: Professor Jonas, the occult expert that provides the protagonist and audience with the lore about Bughuul.
148	* SpoilerOpening: The very first thing we see is footage of a family of four, bags on heads, ropes tied to a branch, slowly being lifted into the air. We later see a reel in the family's former home labelled "Family Hanging Out". What do you think happens in it?
149	* SupernaturalProofFather: Averted, as Ellison is the first person to discover that something is wrong.
150	* TragicMistake: After he watches the first reel, Ellison understandably calls the police to report it. However, after being taunted by the sheriff earlier and realizing this could be his next big break, he hangs up, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screwing everyone in his family]].
151	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:
152	** Pretty much every scary part of the film is shown in the trailer.
153	** [[spoiler: The poster even spoils how Ellison and his family are killed and by whom.]]
154	** Even [[spoiler:the ''tagline'' is a dead giveaway.]] So to speak.
155	** It also spoils Bughuul's ''name'' and methods ([[spoiler:how he propagates via images of himself]].) The latter was an important part of TheReveal.
156	* TrashyTrueCrime: Though Ellison is a fairly sympathetic protagonist with a respectable writing career, several elements of the plot cast shadows on his character and profession. Despite his claims to want justice, it's clear that his only motivation for writing his true crime book is to revive his flagging career. At least one of his previous books had incorrect conclusions that damaged the case. The sheriff tells Ellison that his decision to move into the victims' house for research was extremely tasteless. And when Ellison uncovers bombshell evidence in his investigation, he makes the deeply questionable decision to keep the info for his book instead of turning it over to the police.
157	* WhamLine: [[spoiler:"Don't worry, Daddy. I'll make you famous again."]]
158	* WhamShot: [[spoiler:The "Extended Endings".]]
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Tropes exclusive to the movie ''Sinister II'']]
162	* AbusiveParents: Clint Collins. He's the reason Courtney and her sons are at the farmhouse to begin with.
163	* AlliterativeName: '''C'''lint and '''C'''ourtney '''C'''ollins
164	* AscendedExtra: Deputy So-and-So is the new lead character.
165	* AssholeVictim:
166	** It's pretty terrifying when [[spoiler: the first thing you see is three people tied to crosses and the person in the middle going up in flames.]] But when you find out that person is [[spoiler: the kids' abusive {{Jerkass}} father, it goes from terrifying to LaserGuidedKarma. He's also the only one who dies in Zach's film.]]
167	** Near the end, [[spoiler: Zach gets reduced to a skeleton by Mr. Boogie after trying and failing to brutally murder his family.]]
168	* BigBadWannabe:
169	** Clint Collins is a menacing AbusiveDad and husband with connections to the law, but is [[WrongGenreSavvy in way over his head in the world of the supernatural]].
170	** [[spoiler:His son, Zach, as well. [[LikeFatherLikeSon Must be genetic]].]]
171	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Just as Zach is about to burn the rest of his family to death on their crucifixes, Deputy So-And-So bursts out of the cornfield in his truck, strikes the boy head-on, and unties the survivors.]]
172	* BigNo: [[spoiler:Zach lets out several of these, culminating in a very long one, after Deputy So-and-So destroys his camera, ruining his film.]]
173	* BloodierAndGorier: The tapes in the second film don't leave as much to the imagination as the first. [[spoiler:At the climax, we get to see So-and-So's fingers get lopped off with a sickle]].
174	* BolivianArmyEnding: The film ends with [[spoiler:Bughuul suddenly appearing in front of Deputy So-and-So via a radio that recorded one of Bughuul's murders. It's implied that Professor Jonas from the first film was killed in the same way and we see Bughuul's TouchOfDeath earlier in the film, so [[TheHeroDies So-and-So's odds aren't looking too good..]]]]
175	* CainAndAbel: Zach is the Cain to Dylan's Abel.
176	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience / RedOniBlueOni: The twins, Dylan and Zach:
177	** Dylan [[spoiler: acts as the Blue Oni of the twins. He's generally much more quiet and reserved, is more respectful to their mother and meek around their father. He also tends to wear clothing in colors classically associated with "good." The majority of his shirts are blue, while his pajamas, often seen when watching the home movies, are light blue shorts and a white undershirt. The movie attempts a BaitAndSwitch by showing Dylan in a redshirt preparing to kill his family, though this is revealed to be Dylan's nightmare that opens the movie.]]
178	** Zach [[spoiler: is the Red Oni of the twins. Like his father, he tends to be quicker to anger, is a BigBrotherBully to Dylan and ultimately ends up being the brother that gets corrupted by Bughuul. His wardrobe tends to consist of colors more often associated with anger or "evil." Most of his shirts are red, while his pajamas are black shorts and a grey undershirt.]]
179	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Clint Collins, who is both an {{abusive parent\|s}} and an agricultural magnate according to the newspaper clips about the marriage between him and his estranged wife.
180	* CorruptTheCutie: We get to see this process, with Bughuul's corrupted children forcing Dylan to watch their films. [[spoiler:When Dylan finally rejects them, the children reveal that their attempts to turn Dylan was sufficient to corrupt ''Zach'']].
181	* CreepyChild:
182	** All of the corrupted children showing Dylan their films.
183	** [[spoiler:Zach being a pawn for Bughuul.]]
184	* DeceptivelySillyTitle: The naming scheme of the Super 8 films continues, including:
185	** ''Fishing Trip'': The family is bound over a lake and eaten by alligators.
186	** ''Christmas Morning'': They are tied up with Christmas lights and buried in the snow.
187	** ''Kitchen Remodel'': Everybody is electrocuted in a flooded kitchen.
188	** ''Sunday Service'': A particularly gruesome murder at a church.
189	** ''A Trip To The Dentist'': The family is secured in dental chairs and their teeth—and, eventually, heads—are violently drilled.
190	* DirtyCop: The cops in Clint Collins' back pocket, going so far as to fake a legal order to take custody of the kids.
191	* {{Fingore}}: [[spoiler: Deputy So-and-So has two fingers lopped off with a scythe during the climax.]]
192	* HairTriggerTemper:
193	** Clint, to a terrifying degree. It's telling that one of the ''least'' terrifying things we see of him is the quick turnaround from relatively calm to literally force-feeding his son.
194	** Also, to some extent, [[spoiler:his son Zach]].
195	* HateSink: Clint Collins is a mundane horror in a not-so-mundane setting. He [[DomesticAbuse beat his wife]], Courtney, [[AbusiveParents and his son, Dylan]], all while feeding into the corruption [[spoiler:(which Bughuul exploits)]] of his other son, Zach. Later in the movie, he stuffs some food down Dylan's throat, and when ex-Deputy So and So tries to warn him to [[spoiler:leave the house he'd just moved his family back into, he beats him to a pulp and then boasts about how he's going to "fuck [his] wife". Considering that he's an abuser and Courtney lives in fear of him, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil it should be pretty clear what this entails]].]]
196	* TheHero: Deputy So-and-So has adopted this role, following the trail to try to prevent anyone else from falling victim to Bughuul.
197	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Implied with the ending, where Bughuul pops up in Deputy So-and-So's room, but with plenty of wiggle room if they ever want So-and-So to return in a sequel.]]
198	* {{Jerkass}}: The abusive father and husband Clint Collins very much follows this trope.
199	* JumpScare: Deputy So-and-So closely inspects a photo which has Bughuul in a shadowy corner, then Bughuul suddenly moves forward in that photo. A jump scare in a literal sense, as Deputy So-and-So quickly freaks out and stands after witnessing it.
200	* KillItWithFire: The fate of [[spoiler:Clint]], who gets burned alive while tied to a cross.
201	* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:Professor Jonas from the first film is said to have mysteriously disappeared shortly after the Oswalt murders. It's heavily implied that Bughuul is responsible]].
202	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Yet another creative sacrifice in the sequel: [[spoiler: death by big hungry alligator.]]
203	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Between the movies, Deputy So-And-So has been tracking down the homes that were connected by the murders and burning them to the ground to prevent anyone else from being affected.
204	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: So-and-So shows he still has shades of this despite not being a deputy anymore, when [[spoiler:the state police cops sent by Clint Collins came by to regain custody of Courtney's children until Deputy So-and-So comes to the family's defense and with the knowledge he learned before when he was still in the force, points out that the cops do not have a proper warrant to do that]].
205	* SandNecktie: A variant using snow appears in ''Christmas Morning'', where one of the children buries her family up to their face in snow to leave them to die of hypothermia.
206	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Clint. And he's not afraid to use said connections to get his way.
207	* SequelEscalation: Derrickson showed restraint with the first film's violence with most of it either being bloodless or implied. Ciaran Foy showed no such restraint in the sequel with murders that were bloodier and more explicit.
208	* ShoutOut: At one point, Dylan and Zach watch an old horror movie (''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'') before Courtney, not wanting them to [[KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms get nightmares]], switches it off; much to their dismay. She leads them to bed shortly afterwards.
209	* SmugSnake: [[spoiler:Both Clint and Zach Collins both think they are above everybody else and get what they want.]]
210	* SoreLoser: Bughuul does not take it well when a family evades him. Probably why he goes after So-and-So at the ending.
211	* SpoilerOpening: Once again the first thing we see is footage from one of the films that will be introduced later. This time the family is strung up like scarecrows and set on fire.
212	* SuddenlyShouting: [[SarcasmMode Father of the year]] Clint has a doozy when he shouts at his son to eat.
213	* SupernaturalProofFather: Played straight with [[spoiler: Clint Collins, when he viciously disregard the warnings of Deputy So-and-So about the danger Bughuul poses to him and his family.]]
214	* TookALevelInBadass: Deputy So-and-So has made it his mission to prevent another mass family murder by burning down every location where Bughuul has caused one. When he finds a family hiding out at one such location, he needs to take a different approach.
215	* TheToothHurts: From what little we see of ''A Trip to the Dentist'' in the sequel, it involves [[spoiler:the child playing DepravedDentist and inflicting deadly oral trauma with a long drill.]]
216	* TouchOfDeath:[[spoiler: Bughuul is revealed to have this ability, using it to reduce Zach to a skeleton after he fails to kill his family.]]
217	* UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:Zach was a pretty average kid and seemed to be a kind older brother to Dylan before Bughuul took a hold of him, which makes his death a bit more tragic, even if he was the AssholeVictim]].
218	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: {{Abusive parent\|s}} Clint Collins is this in the eyes of the law under his payroll and the press when describing him as an "[[CorruptCorporateExecutive agricultural magnate]]" who married his "high school sweetheart".
219	[[/folder]]
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Context Film / Sinister