A review by Brooks Rich
I've talked about a wide variety of horror films this Halloween season and I'm not done. But we now come to a film that actually terrifies me. This film is exactly as it title says, sinister. This is one of the scariest films to come out in the past ten years and I am shocked it has not become a modern classic. It's so disturbing. How have people just never seen Sinister? Was it the found footage element that turned people off? I don't get it. This film is so good and it does what a good horror film should do. It scares you and makes you feel uncomfortable.
Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswald, a true crime writer who is trying to recapture the glory of his most successful book. He moves into the house of a family found hanging in their backyard, minus a daughter who is missing. Oswald discovers a series of super 8 films in the attic. Films that depict horrifying images.
The super 8 tapes are the main source of pure horror here. They are so disturbing and their sense of realness adds to the overall creepy tone of the film. It's the films that keeps Oswald pushing for the truth. Director Scott Derrickson knows exactly what to show in them and when to show Oswald turning away. There's something about him turning away that makes them even worse.
Most of you will know Scott Derrickson as the director of Doctor Strange. I think this is his best movie. He wrote the film with his frequent collaborator C. Robert Cargill, an accomplished author and critic in his own right. Derrickson and Cargill know the horror genre and they know not only how to make the super 8 films creepy but also how to make old tropes fresh again. There's scenes of Oswald walking around his house at night, classic haunted house stuff, but they are executed in a way that make them feel original and actually scary. Sinister not only has great jump scares, minus one at the end, but also the true sign of a great horror film, dread. You never feel comfortable watching this movie. You always feel like there's something wrong going on.
This is my highest recommendation for people looking for something legitimately scary. Azzam is also with me in saying Sinister is fantastic and should be on your must watch list if you're looking for something new this year.
I've talked about a wide variety of horror films this Halloween season and I'm not done. But we now come to a film that actually terrifies me. This film is exactly as it title says, sinister. This is one of the scariest films to come out in the past ten years and I am shocked it has not become a modern classic. It's so disturbing. How have people just never seen Sinister? Was it the found footage element that turned people off? I don't get it. This film is so good and it does what a good horror film should do. It scares you and makes you feel uncomfortable.
Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswald, a true crime writer who is trying to recapture the glory of his most successful book. He moves into the house of a family found hanging in their backyard, minus a daughter who is missing. Oswald discovers a series of super 8 films in the attic. Films that depict horrifying images.
The super 8 tapes are the main source of pure horror here. They are so disturbing and their sense of realness adds to the overall creepy tone of the film. It's the films that keeps Oswald pushing for the truth. Director Scott Derrickson knows exactly what to show in them and when to show Oswald turning away. There's something about him turning away that makes them even worse.
Most of you will know Scott Derrickson as the director of Doctor Strange. I think this is his best movie. He wrote the film with his frequent collaborator C. Robert Cargill, an accomplished author and critic in his own right. Derrickson and Cargill know the horror genre and they know not only how to make the super 8 films creepy but also how to make old tropes fresh again. There's scenes of Oswald walking around his house at night, classic haunted house stuff, but they are executed in a way that make them feel original and actually scary. Sinister not only has great jump scares, minus one at the end, but also the true sign of a great horror film, dread. You never feel comfortable watching this movie. You always feel like there's something wrong going on.
This is my highest recommendation for people looking for something legitimately scary. Azzam is also with me in saying Sinister is fantastic and should be on your must watch list if you're looking for something new this year.
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