Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sinister (2012)






RATED- R
RUN TIME- 110 MINS
WRITERS- SCOTT DERRICKSON
STARRING- ETHAN HAWKE, JULIET RYLANCE AND C. ROBERT CARGILL
DIRECTOR- SCOTT DERRICKSON



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.



It's Sinister's opening weekend and it comes in at number 3, following Taken and Argo. Sinister grossed $18,250,000 in it's opening weekend. I was glad I was able to see it fresh and right on opening weekend, Sinister was my most anticipated horror film this month and possibly of all 2012.

Ethan Hawk (Daybreakers) plays Ellison Oswalt, family man and author going broke. He hit a huge success with a book many years ago and since then he's limped along ever since. He decides he's going to give his writing gig one more chance by solving a series of mysterious murders. And what better way to do that than move into a house where one of the family's were killed, right?

Juliet Rylance (Animal) plays Tracy, Ellison's wife, and she does a great job. The emotion between these two really make if feel real, being in a real situation and acting genuine.



The movie starts off with a very disturbing shot. The realness and the hopelessness of this scene is chilling and it lets you know that this film has balls, and that it was going to scare the hell out of you. When Ellison goes into the attic to store moving boxes and finds the box with projector and Super 8 films, I knew it was going to pick up from viewing the trailer.

The film brought the suspense and chills just about instantly and kept you on an uncomfortable edge the whole ride. Never knowing what's coming or what to expect or when to expect it. It got alot of reactions from me and the people who I were with, as well as several other viewers in the theater.

When Ellison is watching the films is downright chilling. The grainy picture of the Super 8 films adds to how real the videos looked and felt, like you were watching a home movie of a murder happening. And that's exactly what he's doing. They were gritty and disturbing.



There's one murder that he watches that I thought was shot perfectly, the camera pulls away before you see the grisly murder happen but you can see the after effects in the reflection of Ellison's glasses. I love when people know how to utilize what you don't see and make it scary.

I love gore and seeing everything as much as the next guy, but I always appreciate a movie that doesn't rely on showing you everything to scare you.

The first scene where Ellison sees Bughuul is tense and terrifying. All the zoom-ins that Ellison does only adds more mystery to Bughuul, and it makes you scared because this isn't something you've seen before. Ellison realizes there's a weird symbol at all of the houses where the previous murders have happened and goes digging to find answers. He doing so, only makes things worse as he starts to feel he's being watched and hears weird noises at night.



As the movie progresses it gets more terrifying and the jumps are almost as constant as the nail biting. Proving that it is a real horror film, meant to scare and disturb you. As well as being very original and creative and not a remake. The more Ellison learns about Bughuul the more he realizes that he may have made a grave mistake by digging into these murders.

My overall reaction of the film is very positive. Sinister did it's job. Plain and simple. It delivered a haunting, terrifying tale and it brought the scares. Sinister had a little bit of humor in it, but by no means is it a funny movie. Or a movie that gives alot of humor to lighten the mood. It's a straight forward horror film.

I thought the acting was spot on. I thought the scares were well placed and effective and I think the story was very well done. The effects were done with class and Bughuul looked enormously creepy. His presence causes chills.



The way it all plays out worked wonderfully and fitting. This movie isn't cute and it isn't pretty. It's dark and scary and you'll remember it when you leave that theater. The ending sits with you and it's perfect for this film. It isn't a perfect film, it has its flaws but it's a damn good horror film and stands big and tall against other modern horror films. I see Sinister being a classic like The Descent (2005) and being remembered and favored by alot of horror fans for many, many years to come.


THIS FILM GETS 3 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5






24 comments:

  1. I refuse to read or watch anything about Sinister, because I think the less I know, the better. Can't wait to check it out, and as soon as I do, I will be back to check out your review as well. I'm sure it's pretty entertaining to read. ;)

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    1. Thanks Neb, hopefully you'll like it. I tried to avoid giving away spoilers, it's a hard thing to do when you have so much to say about a movie. Can't wait to see and read your review as well!

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  2. Ethan Hawke never shows up in movies like this, and it’s a real surprise because the guy’s great at looking absolutely terrified when he needs to. As for the rest of the film, it’s not as terrifying but still scary enough to fully give you that creepy vibe the whole way through. Nice review Grimm.

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    1. Thank you! Yeah I think Ethan Hawke is a good actor, I've always liked him. I thought he was good in Daybreakers too. But alot of people didn't like that movie too much.

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  3. Great review :)
    This movie was great on all fronts imo, acting included. One scene between husband & wife especially wowwed me with Hawke's acting.
    Lotsa jumps even if you're a horror fan & can tell where they may be coming!

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    1. Totally agree Tare. Hawke's acing was exceptional in this movie.

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  4. Just wait till you read my review. :) It couldn't be more opposite. I have a feeling that you may not have seen too many REAL horror movies somehow. I'm not having a dig, but you'll change. Every year, you'll change your mind about movies like this until you wonder what the hell you were thinking. It's happened to all of us.

    Trust me, the more you watch, the less likely you will be to overpraise something like this ever again.

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    1. Haha. I had a feeling our opinions would be different on this one. We differ in opinions sometimes, and that's okay. Everyone's opinion is why we do this and have discussions.

      As far as me seeing REAL horror films go, I've seen thousands and thousands of horror films. I've been watching them for around 20 years now. Now, I'm not the biggest horror aficionado in the world, but I know what I'm talking about. Our opinions of horror may differ and our opinion of movies may differ, but everyone horror fan has his or her cup of tea that they like.

      I no you meant no offense and to be honest, my mind could very well change. I see movies that I used to like and randomly don't find them enjoyable anymore. Will Sinister fall into that catagory? I don't know. I thought it was a good solid horror film.

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    2. I wasn't having a pop at you, but you have to be careful with the overpraise. Most of the stuff I wrote years ago makes me cringe now because when re-evaluated or re-watched, the movies were actually awful. It's one thing to come out of the cinema with the "post film rush" but quite another after you've sat and evaluated what you've seen. Christ, I even used to love Stallone and Schwarzenegger movies once but I can't bear to watch them anymore. It's funny how as we get older our tastes change. In the case of "Sinister", I can see how it would appeal to the intended mid-teen audience, but for grown adults not so much. It was pure product with no soul.

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    3. That makes perfect sense. I appreciate your input. I've had that happen as I mentioned above. One minute you like a movie and then you let a little time pass and your mind changes. Still a shame you didn't enjoy it though.

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  5. Dr blood I have to agree.this sort of tripe irritates me to the core,but each to their own.And what's the deal between you and nebular??

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    1. Oh God, I was disappointed to the max.

      As for Nebuliar - http://www.drbloodsvideovault.com/2011/04/nebular-liar-your-5-seconds-of-fame.html - The fat, ugly ponce disgusts me. He's insulting on every level, intellectually barren, has no taste in movies, and his reviews read like the promotional blurb on the back of the DVD artwork as if he's trying to sell the movie. His blog is like a poor man's IMDb. Even his long time "friend" Maynard Morrissey must have got sick of him because he recently rejoined my GFC followers widget (I blocked him though because he's forever tainted now).

      I even took one of Nebuliar's reviews, changed a few words and used it as a review for a completely different movie which I posted on a parody blog. The little attention whore was stupid enough to follow that blog and he didn't even notice what was done. The guy is total asshat of the highest order.

      His creepy sycophancy and the oily way he responds to people in his comments makes me want to puke. Not that I read his site regularly or anything. I occasionally check it to see if he's still the same, and he is. He needs to go back to "Rotten Tomatoes" with that crap not write blogs.

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    2. Doctorcarnage, shame you didn't like the movie as well as my "tripe" review.

      As far as DR Blood goes, I was wondering what the beef was between you and Neb and now I know I guess haha. Not cool. One thing I like about you is that you don't pull punches. You got balls bro.

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    3. That's the "raison d'etre' of my blog. 100% honesty all the way. Blunt and tactless as it may be in some cases, I'm always honest. The other side of the coin though is that if I like something, I REALLY like it. I've been blown-away by "Perras" and "Lovely Molly" recently.

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    4. I saw Lovely Molly a few weeks ago! Head trip of a movie.

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  6. Lol.you are awesome drblood!!!nice to see a fellow brit here too!!!one question though.Why the hell arent you following me??

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    1. I thought I already was. I had a GFC meltdown a while back so maybe not. I'm following you again now though.

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  7. Awesome dude!!Glad to hear it.and talking of nebular,a few days ago he wrote a post on smiley,and mentioned a film called John Carpenters scream.can you believe it?
    i knew at that moment there was something fishy about the guy,then he proceeds to tell me he was thinking about john carpenter,even though he isnt a fan.perfectly reasonable i hear you say.But then he claims to be a fan of horror.I was confused to say the least.

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    1. I can believe it. It's not the first time either.

      You've just highlighted another important thing. He doesn't pay for movies, he downloads them all illegally. "Smiley" only has a limited theatrical release in the US yet he's already seen it in whatever third-world European country he lives in? True horror fans pay for their horror and support the filmmakers.

      His "reviews" are a joke (except they aren't even funny). He knows nothing about anything but just wants to say something about the most recent titles anyway to make himself popular. 'Cos like Blogger popularity is worth millions of dollars. LOL He'll never be as popular as me and I'm not even popular at all. LMAO

      Just block the ponce and be done with it. It's not worth the aggravation.

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  8. Grimm i was in no way caling your review tripe dude!!!you were the first person to follow me,and i respect that.I was merely commenting on the movie.

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  9. and drblood.I can deal with idiots.I had many problems with a UK publication because i criticised their publication,and was threatened with solicitors and allsorts,the same way another blogger who goes by the name of dangerous jamie was.I actually welcome it.It gives me the chance to show up more idiots.Although he has yet to say anything bad to me.

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  10. Grimm, Glad to see this review up so quickly since the film was released! I saw it saturday and still have that creeps face in my head! This movie was original and scary as hell. I liked the suspense, especially the scenes of Hawke walking around in the hallways. FREAKY! The fact that Mr. Boogie wasnt actually seen all that much (besides the shadows and background) made him terrifying! And of course, that made his hideous face was all that more memorable.

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  11. Hell yeah, those hallway scenes were good. You were just waiting for something to jump out of the shadows and scare the hell out of you. Glad you liked the movie Sam!

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