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I wish I had seen it in theaters but, I couldn't thanks to hurricane Sandy. Instead I had to watch it on my 14 inch screen laptop. It was still scary to me but, it would have had a better lasting impact on me had I seen it on the big screen. Found Footage films are the new thing now, and it's getting real tiring. However, Sinister manages to inject some freshness into a tiresome genre. It's not the best found footage film to come out this year, that belongs to Chronicle but, it is the scariest. Which is nice because that's what seems to have been lacking this year.
There were some minor problems here and there but, nothing too serious that it diminishes it's effect of scaring you. As always the case with horror films, people do and make pretty dumb decisions that a normal human being wouldn't do. For example: Not turning on the lights when you're looking for something that you think you saw in the dark or not moving out when you've put your family in such danger. You have to accept these things, otherwise you won't enjoy it as much and to be quiet honest, it wouldn't be as much fun if you have characters doing what we would normally do in these situations. The other thing, is that the story is the same as every other haunted house movie. That didn't bother me though since this movie adds some of it's own unique and deliciously fresh twists and ideas.
As always with horror movies, mood and atmosphere are the most important things, and Sinister has no problem with establishing both. The house has this creepy and eerie feel, and has the look of an old fashion haunted house. The scares in this movie are effective, though they are mostly jump scares, they are effective. Especially the ones with the Demon. The home videos are extremely disturbing and creepy. There's one in particular involving a lawnmower that has forever truamatized me. The Demon himself is well done, kudos to the make-up artists. He doesn't look like a copy of anything else out there( that was one of the flaws of Inisdious), which is great because he has more of a lasting impact. I was afraid of looking out my window or wandering the halls of my house after I saw this movie because of him.
The acting is better than average. Ethan Hawke is such an underrated actor. He is conving as the "everyday" man, and even though he puts his familyin such danger, I couldn't help but to sympathize with him a bit. Juliet Rylance does a good job, she's not given much to do at first, but then becomes important to the plot, her and Hawke share some nice chemistry and are convincing as a married couple. The kids do admirable jobs, and aren't irratating in any way which is a plus. James Ransone does a nice job at providing us with some comic relief as the sheriff who just wants to be mentioned in Hawke's book. The rest of the cast does a good job even though they don't have much to do.
I feel like talking about the ending(no spoilers) because it seems to have divided people. I liked the ending, I knew there would be a twist, how can you not expect there to be one? However, it was predictable. Though, it did catch me off guard because while I was expecting one and had an idea of what it would be, for a moment it seemed like there wasn't going to be one. I liked it but, I'm not sure about everyone else.
Overall, a nice edition into the genre by adding some of it's own fresh twists. Sure, the characters do dumb things that any sane person wouldn't do and sure the basic story structure is similar to that of every other haunted house movie. However, it did manage to scare me, and the performances are much better than what we've come to expect in a movie from this genre. There have been more found footage films this year, than any other year that I can recall. Some of them have been good to great(Chronicle, V/H/S, and The Bay), while others have just been pure shit(The Devil Inisde, Project X). Sinister belongs in the former category. It's not the best found footage film, but it can take it's rightful crown as the best horror movie of the year
