Sinister

Ratings: 8.1/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Horror Thriller

A crime novelist moves into a new house with his family, where the previous tenants of the house were murdered... with a missing child. Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) have had his 15 mins of fame with one of his books, Kentucky Blood, and is looking for that big break once again. Finding a box of Super 8 mm film (those old school roll mainly used for home videos) in his attic, he starts watching each roll, which documented the history, and the murders of several families. As he starts to examine and question the motive behind the murders, he gradually sinks into a hell-hole with the supernatural.   

Sinister is possibly one of the scariest horror movies I've watched. Solid suspense build up, decent plot, and great acting. The soundtrack was creepy too, and while most of the sounds (which is one of the most important aspect of horror films) tend to blend in as background sounds, there were at times weird sounds/noises/music which just prepared me for yet another good scare. So much so that at some points, I couldn't figure if they were background sound, or sound intended to add suspense to the scenes.

I possibly jumped up inches (as claimed from my horror movie buddy) from my seat thrice, which is one of the record-breaking moments for me. Usually, I would still be able to keep my cool, but the build up was that intense, coupled with abrupt loud sounds which really made me lose my nerves. To be honest, I was also squinting my eyes at several scenes, hoping to watch as "little" of the screen as I can while supposedly keeping my cool. 

It has the usual clichés, such as scary images on reflective surfaces, overrated sudden sounds to scare you, and before that, everything goes silent, scary looking children and dim lighting. What I wasn't too happy about was that most of the scenes were actually almost completely dark, 3/4 of the screen was just pitch black. Created too much "unnecessary" tension (horror fans won't complain) that something could be lurking in those parts of the screen. Somehow, the lead actor, Ethan Hawke, seemed to have excellent night vision. Also, the scary images & apparitions looked too CG for my liking. 

But other than that, everything else was near awesome. Sinister lies true to its literally meaning, and it's a refreshing mix of graphic horror and scary horror. Graphic horror for movies like Saw and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, scary horror for movies like Paranormal Activity and Insidious (both of which I've yet to catch) - a mix of sadistic horror and ghost horror. 

*major major spoilers ahead* While it's true that there are many murder-like horror movies out there, none is able to meet that balance... it's usually skewed towards the supernatural side. Sinister, however is different in the sense that it initially started out as a murder solving mystery, with hints of the supernatural but gradually evolved into pure supernatural horror madness... and finally falling back to the disturbing horror closure. 

I was almost certain I saw subtle images of the boogie-man on a couple of reflective surfaces which the camera quickly spanned past. Not sure if it was my imagination or that it was intended by the director. One scene was the one where Ethan Hawke and his wife were having a talk along the corridor with a brightly lit white curtained glass door in the background. Another was... I shudder to think about it but was sure there was another scene. Only managed, though I honestly didn't want to, to catch 2 such scenes. 

The first scary screen was his son creeping out of a cardboard box backwards, a scene totally absurd, yet is sure to stick... somewhat like the Exorcist. Thankfully, the fact that "he" was human made it less haunting. And this could possibly be one of the director's "trademark filming", like how director Quentin Tarantino likes to have scenes of feet and soundtrack of his previous movies. Well, the director, Scott Derrickson is the director of The Exorcist of Emily Rose afterall...

The suspense was so intense throughout the movie, I was impatiently waiting (hoping actually) for "lull" moments where Ethan Hawke would have a long (not long enough) dialogue with the other cast, such as a helpful policeman, and an occult investigator. There was also a "lull" moment where he argued with his wife, but that itself was a powerful scene. It put across some insightful priorities any family man should have. The scenes with the policeman and the occult investigator added some light-hearted humor to the perpetually tense mood. 

The problem with too-much-CG apparitions is that during prolonged scenes of them, it just feels more ridiculously unreal (which the ending scene was).

The ending was quick, just like the murders, which cut to the chase. I thought there could have been more build up back there. 

Sinister is a must see for horror fans out there, and for those who can stomach such scenes. For the faint hearted and those who easily have nightmares, I recommend you stay away from this film.