Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sinister

Over the last several years, I've been extremely disappointed in horror movies. Most of them haven't been well made nor are they really scary. Well, I'm happy to say that's not the case with Sinister. It scared the crap out me. Finally! When I go to a horror movie, I want to be scared. As in, walking out into the parking lot afterward, looking over my shoulder constantly and not being able to sleep for days kind of scared.

Anyway, Sinister tells the story of a guy named Ellison (Ethan Hawke). He's a true crime writer who had a lot of success 10 years ago with one of his books but since then he hasn't been so lucky. He decides to move, along with his wife and two kids, into a house where a family had been murdered (dumbass!) and investigate and write a book about what he finds. One day he goes up into the attic and finds an old Super 8 camera and films that are labled as if they were typical family home movies (which I promise are anything but that). So he watches them and is shocked at what he finds. As Ellison investigates these murders further, strange things begin to happen. I'd love to tell you more about the plot but I can't without spoiling the whole movie for you.

Sinister isn't your typical found footage movie that Hollywood seems to turn out by the dozen lately. It's a regular movie about the guy who finds the found footage and you get to see what he sees.

What I love about this movie is that it doesn't rely on jump scares (although there are some in here. Nearly had a heart attack.). A lot of it is stuff that messes with your head. Scott Derrikson (the director, whose previous films include The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the recent remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still) does an amazing job setting the tone. The movie also had a really low budget from what I here, but you can't even tell. I thought he made it look great.

The writer of Sinister is C Robert Cargill, whom I've been a huge fan of for awhile now. He use to be a film critic on my favorite movie review site Spill.com. I think the writing is one of the best parts of the movie. Unlike many writers of horror films he made these characters likeable. Even though Ellison is a selfish jerk at times, you still like him and understand the reasoning behind what he does.

The acting was really good too, especially Ethan Hawke. He's such an amazing actor. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing this part. Loved seeing Fred Thompson as the sheriff too. There's even some funny moments between Ethan's character and I can't remember the actor's name but in the movie his character is Deputy So & So (I kid you not, this is what he's called which I think is awesome).

The music is especially creepy as it should be. Might have to pick up the soundtrack at some point :)

The only thing that kept this movie from being perfect to me was the ending. Wasn't too crazy about it for reasons I can't say without giving away things. But they were very minor complaints. Nothing that should stop you from seeing it.

If you're looking for a great horror movie to watch this time of year, definitely go see Sinister. You won't be disappointed. Well done to all those involved :)

My Rating: 9/10

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