Sinister

Sinister (A Horror Movie): From a Commoner’s View

NO SPOILERS – SheBlogger hates spoilers :)

Okay…so here’s another horror movie review from the girl who is yet to be scared with scenes shot in the dark, gory murders and startling sound effects.

HeBlogger and I went to the mall last Sunday to watch a different movie. We thought Tiktik, which is a Filipino horror movie, was already showing. Apparently, it is not scheduled until next week. Then we saw Sinister’s poster, which said, “from the producer of Paranormal and Insidious”. We have seen both movies and we both didn’t like Paranormal but both enjoyed Insidious. So we said, okay…let’s watch this instead.

Didn’t know anything about this movie Sinister so as we walked inside the empty movie house, I wondered which one is it going to be like. Is it going to be a homemade movie about paranormal activities with three different endings? Oh please…I fervently hope not! I crossed my fingers because I noticed there were rolls of super 8 films on the poster. Or is it going to be about demons capturing souls and possessing the physical body with a non-happy ending? Or is it going to be a totally different story? I hoped it would be.

We were the first two of the five people who came to watch this movie. The others were a group of three teenage girls, who surprisingly didn’t scream or shout at all, throughout the screening. What a joy to be watching in silence and absolute peace!

Okay, on to the movie review…

The movie opens with a scene shot like a home video, so I go like, uh-oh… But don’t be disheartened. It’s nothing like Paranormal and deeper into the story, you’d see that it is more like Insidious. That much I would tell you.

The story is about a real crime stories writer, played by Ethan Hawke (the only actor I know in the movie), who moved his entire family to a house where a family was hung to death in the backyard tree and their little girl still missing. In the course of his...

Bughuul the Bastard!

After moving himself and his family into a new house that was the scene of a horrendous crime, true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) finds a box of 8mm "snuff" films that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates some way back still further...

It is becoming the un-reviewable genre, horror that is, there are just too many splinters of horror to choose from and so many people to cater for. There are many who stand up and proudly proclaim that they will watch any horror film and view it on its own terms, yet in this new millennium age that doesn't appear to be the case. I know I'm at fault, I hate torture porn and excessive grue type films, they just bore me, so can I review Hostel 9, Saw 27 and Wrong Turn 12 fairly? No, I don't think I can. I mean the human body can only be sliced up in so many different ways, right? Right? Vice Versa, can someone who loves Argento, Roth and the like, review fairly a boo-jump ghost story that caters for those who want to wet themselves when something jumps out of a cupboard? I really don't think so, but I digress...

Sinister is a wonderfully creepy movie that deals firmly in the realm of demons who come into the real world to cause unmitigating terror and heartbreak. It has no "axe" to grind with the blood thirsty who want to see arteries sliced and diced, it just wants to put a protagonist front and centre as he gets in way above his head, have his family come under serious threat; especially the child (oh my, the children...), and throw in the odd "boo-jump" moment to keep the pant wetters happy. The video footage used to show us the previous crimes unnerves greatly and there's a strong mystery element to keep the intrigue level high, whilst the ending doesn't cop out in the slightest. Hawke is excellent, perfectly portraying a man horrified yet submerged by the need to unravel the story, but his turn is sadly balanced by Juliet Rylance as...

Hits an absurdly high number of horror clichés, but manages to do it in a pretty successful manner. Features many more laugh out moments than you might expect from a horror of this type. Not sure if that's a pro or a con.

Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.

73/100

A true crime writer moves into a home where a horrific murder took place and his family encounters a malevolent force. This was an ultra-creepy exercise in, not only a demonic presence, but also in obsession and how far someone is willing to go before considering their family's safety. Everyone in it did a wonderful job and their actions were logical, heartfelt and intelligent. It's absolutely thick with a sense of dread, with a few really choice jump scares that never felt like pandering, and that sound track is incredibly unnerving. Very nicely done! -- DrNostromo.com