Sinister Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A true-crime writer moves into the home of a murdered family for research only to discover he has become a part of the mystery.

Review: I have to say I really liked this film especially how original many of the plot elements were. Taking note on the widespread use of found-footage films out there nowaday, this movie incorporated aspects of those films with a traditional haunted house format to bring us something unlike anything else in recent memory. Although the obsessed writer for a main character has been done before, there were aspects altered enough to make it acceptable like the cops confronting the main guy, Ellison, or shots of him watching interviews he had in his prime; it's little extras like this that make things feel more fresh. The way Ellison finds the footage of the crime scenes and the way in which they are presented feels visceral and sets the tone fast. The accompanied sense that not all is right and that there is something going on in the house perfectly enhances the atmosphere to bring on a strong sense of dread I rarely feel in a film. The creepy music, snuff-like film quality, and eerie curiosity of the plot's direction sucks you into the film's universe and has your expectations peaked. There are predictable aspects to this film especially in regards to how the movie will end (you can guess the ending maybe 10 minutes in), but the overall story is surprising, and I really liked that the characters felt more real and did move out of the house and admitted freaky shit was going on rather than how unrealistic people typically act in a haunted house film. I also loved the look of the Mr. Boogie or Bughuul character as the demon haunting the films and seemingly being the murderer. The demon living within the film or images was cool as well since it set up some nice scares, but I do wish the film made more use of him since he looked so ominous; he served to create the more memorable moments so I suppose that was good enough. I really wanted to rate this movie so much higher, but there were two annoying things that held it back. One: the completely uselessness and red herring aspect of the sons "night terrors." It was such a pointless contrivance I had to take away points for only serving the purpose of providing scares without any reason. With the amazing potential here, they did not need to resort to such cheap scares or else they should have incorporated this plot element into the story!  Two: the daughter being mesmerized, or whatever the demon does to kids, came out of left field. Yes, it does make sense, but we had no inclination or hints to show this happening. As far as we know she was totally normal and then is suddenly enthralled by Bughuul. This could have been cleared up so easily by a few scenes or her interacting with those ghost kids (instead of just once) or even some flashbacks where we see her at points of the movie slowly being controlled. Again, this was basically the huge twist of the movie and makes no sense so I had to take away points. The ending is still appropriate despite the predictability as there really would have been no other way to end it. Overall, this is a great movie with some of the best use of atmosphere I've seen in a few years and definitely worth a view. Considering this was just another low-budget horror film, I give the film more credit for successfully making use of more subtle scare tactics.

Notable Moment: Even though it was in the trailer, when Ellison holds a picture to the window showing the location of Mr. Boogie, and removes the photo only for Mr. Boogie to be standing there for real.

Final Rating: 7.5/10