Review: Sinister (2012)

Sinister

IMDB rate: 6,8

Genre: Serial Killer

I was very curious about this movie since the IMDB rate is quite high for a horror movie. And the trailer was also really impressive, so that's why I decided to finally watch it. Let's start of with saying that you shouldn't watch the trailer, because a lot of the scary moments are already shown in the trailer, which is not so fun when watching the movie. It isn't really a bothering thing because the movie it self was very frightening, so I did not really notice it. But some people might think it's annoying.

Ellison (Ethan Hawke) is a novelist of true crimes. He is looking to publish another bestseller after his book 'Kentucky Blood'. To achieve this, he moves with his family (a wife and two children) to a house where a crime happened several years ago. When moving in, Ellison finds a box full with super 8 films in the attic. On the snuff tapes are the murders of the family who previously lived in his house and four other murders dating back to 1966. The connection between these films is a symbol that keeps showing up and the disappearing of the youngest child in every family. Ellison is trying to connect the dots and possibly solving these crimes.

You actually see these snuff films that he found, and in my opinion, are those the best part of the entire movie. They looked so real and were truly frightening. The music that played when showing a film is so incredibly scary and weird that the entire feeling changed when watching. 

This movie is great with the tension building moments, and every time something scary happens, you just know that this isn't it yet, because there still wasn't that 'big scare' that is building up. The things that are supposed to be the scary things aren't actually as scary as you might think, but the road leading to this scary moment is scary enough, you are not afraid of what is on screen, but what is about to be on screen. 

The thing I didn't like is the part of the children. You know that there is something wrong with them, but in my opinion there is not given enough attention to that aspect. And also, the plot was a bit weird and sudden in my opinion. The cause of all this was explained a bit yes, but the fact that this all seemed to happen suddenly in 1966 is not really explained, but that is just my opinion. Also, I saw a lot of resemblance between Insidious and this movie, and I know they are both from the same producer, but that is not a reason to copy so many things. I didn't really like Insidious, because it's a bit the same story, a good scary story, and suddenly, the story goes a completely different way, not a good way in the case of Insidious. I must say that Sinister was a lot better than Insidious. Again, this is just my opinion, I know many people will disagree with me, but it's just something I noticed.

Overall, this movie wasn't that bad. The acting performance was great, of everybody. The scary moments were quite good. The snuff films were really disturbing, so that's a good thing. The music was good. The end plot could be a bit better, but overall, this movie was really scary.

For everybody that likes a good mystery horror, with a bit of gore, this is an excellent movie for you. 

My personal rate: 6,5/10