Movie Review #33 Sinister (2012)

- An attempt at found footage horror, yet again.

For my last review in October, I felt it appropriate that I review a movie that at least was supposed to be scary and of course there will always be some studios that feel their movie is the most Halloween-spirited even though they contain nothing remotely having to do with the special occasion. As you may already know, there were two big Halloween contenders this year. Paranormal Activity 4 and new kid on the block Sinister; who was brought to you by the people who originally gave us the aforementioned Paranormal series, so not really as new as one would hope.

The movie has a pretty slow start and has too much of a lull in the build up. This is normal with the Paranormal series, however. It wasn't really until Paranormal Activity 3 that it had built up enough steam for me to even think it was tense. I had hoped that Sinister might at least draw me in a little quicker and if not maybe give me two chills? I wasn't much surprised by the quite slow start but giving credit where credit is due, there are enough cheap thrills in this movie (especially in the last quarter) to put it ahead of all the other Paranormal Activity movies I've seen.

Moving on, the plot follows a true crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (played by Ethan Hawke) and his family, his wife (played by Juliet Rylance) and their two children, the sweet innocent girl (played by Clare Foley) who paints unicorns on her bedroom wall and the troubled youth son (played by Michael Hall D'Addario) who has night terrors. Not much of a description to the kids but to be honest Ellison is the main attraction. He really carries the movie along. I'd even go so far as to say that if you don't like him (for whatever reason), Sinister isn't really going to be your cup of tea because he holds just about every scene together.

The first half of the movie mostly played out like a bad mystery show on late night cable. Right up until Ellison catches a glimpse of Mr. Magoo in some Super 8 film that he found in his attic of a group of murders. Before I go on, those of you who saw it are saying “Uh he isn't called Mr. Magoo” and those of you who did not see it are asking “He isn't really called Mr. Magoo is he?” You're right he isn't but the first time they did say his proper name I was pretty sure they said Magoo, so it stuck for me. Those of you who are sticklers for proper names however can call him Bughuul. He's a decent “villain” in that he doesn't say much, he's pretty weird looking (though ultimately most people think he looks like he is from Slipknot) and it's assumed he eats children. I find knowing little detail about the killer is scarier than if the audience knows their whole back-story. Just a taste of what he looks like, what he does and how he operates is more chilling and effective to me. So until one scene that I thought was weak I think he's a pretty solid force and I wouldn't be surprised to see him return but I don't want them to explain more about him. Look at Michael Myers after they started explaining his back story more and more.

You may not know it, but these are aptly named.

I disliked the merge of supernatural and technology (possessing a *.mov file!): it is a strange handshake between religion and science that doesn't sit well with me. But with that, I thought some of the cheap thrills were well-placed and easily got some jumps out of me. I rarely find movies are actually scary but are good for a jump. I know that something will pop out, I sometimes even know what it looks like, but it's a jerk reaction that can't be helped. If you're looking for honestly scary, where you well up inside, you have clammy hands, cold shivers and are honestly terrified that something is coming to get you when you sleep, I wouldn't put too much stock in this movie providing that. If you like a movie that doesn't have too many loopholes, decent acting and more jumps than you can shake a stick at during the Halloween season, this is a good enough choice.

I give the movie a 7/10

PS: I polled some people, and they all said if they heard a noise in the night at worst step 4 would be to turn on some lights.