Sinister (2012) is a supernatural horror movie.
Synopsis: True crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves his family - his wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) and two young kids, Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario) and Ashley (Clare Foley) into a house where the previous residents were murdered and the family's youngest kid went missing. He is using the gruesome murder as the basis for his new book, hoping to achieve another breakthrough. Upon moving into the house, Ellison stumbles upon a box containing a projector and several reels of Super 8 footage in the attic. Much to his horror, the tapes are showing the murders of the family who previously lived in his house in 2011 and four other murders in 1998, 1986, 1979, 1966. Ellison's marriage is deteriorating and his kids are acting stranger and stranger each day. Ellison has no choice but to find out the truth behind the string of gruesome murders.
Thumbs up! Oh my goodness! At the end of the movie, all I can say is, "That was the scariest movie I have ever seen this year!" I didn't watch its trailer or read its synopsis before I watched this movie. I went into the cinema without expectations and I had to admit I scared myself silly for 110 minutes.
I would like to point out the most crucial element of this movie - the use of Super 8 footage in such a slow and eerie way that you will remember every single bloody detail. There are five reels, each has a title with the year - Pool Party '66, BBQ '79, Lawn Work '86, Sleepy Time '98, and Family Hanging Out '11. The titles are so benign, right? The years don't suggest anything weird too. Everything seems fine.
But the moment Ellison watch the reels, and as you watch together with him, you can start to feel that familiar sense of dread and suspense rising in the pit of your stomach. :S
Not only so, the director continues to keep us uneasy in our seats by giving us a whole lot of manipulative camera angles, bizarre images, sudden loud noises, and haunting music score. Everything is unsettling and there are many instances I have to close my eyes and ears. But those horrific imagery are not something you can forget easily. Argh!
The horror genre is here to stay. There are many horror movies made each year but Sinister stands out in the crowd. A good horror movie is not just about blood, gore, and sadism. Sinister offers more than superficial scares; it toys with your emotions, especially your fear of the supernatural and netherworld. It gives you a glimpse of what if Evil pays you a visit today?
It's Halloween in a week's time. To all horror movie fans, DON'T MISS this movie!
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