Review of Sinister (2012) by Kevin O — 09 Mar 2014

This did pretty good at the box office back in 2012, presumably on the strength of some positive reviews and maybe Ethan Hawke. Actually, it did more than 'good.' It made thirty times its budget. It has since been eclipsed by the runaway success of the Insidious series and The Conjuring and though the latter are superior horror in every aspect Sinister is not bad. What I didn't like was the acting, excepting Deputy So and So which is just a small part the rest I didn't care for. There's some formulaic ghosts that by now should scare absolutely nobody and at 1 hr 49 min director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) is pushing it.

But the core of the story is pretty cool, a fusion of 'found footage' serial murders and the supernatural. There's some awesome creepy scenes. The picture's nice to look at too and though the whole thing could do with maybe 20 min less is nicely paced. I like that.

There's a planned sequel for later in the year. Like this, it should worth a look.