SINISTER 2 writer C. Robert Cargill on scaring you with the sequel

By:

sinister2

“It’s very delicate, frustrating work to go through the ideas you’ve already discarded and find new ideas,” says screenwriter C. Robert Cargill when asked what the challenges are to tackling the sequel to his very popular 2012 horror film Sinister, staring Ethan Hawke.

“We didn’t set up to make a franchise, we set up to make a really good film,” he says. The original story was set around a family who moved into a house where there had been terrible murders. As Hawke’s character discovers lost super 8 footage in the attic, he starts to put together the pieces of these mysterious deaths.

“With the first movie… I sat down and made a list of 24 really scary, terrifying and awful ways to die, and Scott and I went through the list and widdled it down to six. And those were the six we introduced into the film. So, when we had to come up with new ones for this one, it was oh, wow, we went through everything we thought was really scary in that one, now we have to come up with six more,” says Cargill of his collobration with co-writer Scott Derrickson.

“You have to struggle and think, ‘What’s the movie people aren’t expecting, but want?’” he says.

Sinister 2 picks up with a new cast of characters, but… lurking in the shadows is the same demon that caused so much havoc before. “In the first movie, the villain isn’t defeated,” says Cargill. So now, audiences are left wondering how do we get rid of this thing?

And with that, we’re left with one frightening sequel.

Sinister 2 premiers in theaters August 21 and co-stars James Ransone (Sinister, Oldboy), Shannyn Sossamon (Sleepy Hollow) an Robert Daniel Sloan.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:

Watch the trailer here:

Photo credit: Focus Features

author-avatar

Jenna Milly is Editor-in-chief of ScreenwritingU Magazine, an inside source for the latest scoop from the screenwriter's POV on upcoming movies. She interviews some of the top writers in Hollywood for such movies as The Revenant, The MartianMission: Impossible and many others. She co-created the TBS microseries Gillian in Georgia. She earned her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia and a M.F.A. in Screenwriting from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. She has written for CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times, Script Magazine, TwelvePoint, and a variety of magazines. You can follow her on Twitter: @jennamilly

No Replies to "SINISTER 2 writer C. Robert Cargill on scaring you with the sequel"

    Leave a reply

    Your email address will not be published.

    Join Our Magazine
    Get a free subscription to Screenwriting Magazine and download over 40 Academy Nominated screenplays.
    No Thanks
    Thanks for Joining ScreenwritingU Magazine!
    We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
    Don't miss out. Join today!
    ×
    ×