Sinister (2012)- Ethan Hawke

[redhawk23]

I was genuinely tense almost this whole movie, they knew to relieve some of it from time to time (Deputy So and So!) but the movie just ratcheted up even more. You could see the crowd I was with (and there actually was a crowd!) squirming in their seats, and when there was a small funny moment, they all took the opportunity to laugh just a little too much. From my experience, that generally means the tension is working. There were a few "jump scares" but the movie wasn't dependent upon them. This movie made very good use of its atmosphere. It did use elements that were a bit cliched at times, but similar to Looper in some ways it just embraced the cliches and moved on from there to do what it wanted to do.

Unlike a lot of horror films, the movie actually had some decently fleshed out characters, which adds to the tension.

Also I have a lot of respect for this movie for knowing just what not to show. Many movies would have went the Saw/Hostel route, especially just a few years ago. This movie knew when to hold back on the gore.

I do think the movie could have done a little more with its antagonist as it were, but I understand what they were doing.

Sinister isn't a perfect movie, but I have very few problems with it. It almost seems like empty praise to say its one of the best horror films that I've seen in years but its true.

 

[Prison Mike]

Well I am glad you guys like it, for me it just didn't do anything. I mean nothing really happens in the movie until the last 5 min. There are a few jump scares but they are mostly lame horror cliches and the super 8 films are creepy/ disturbing but I just expected more. I mean they are advertising the heck out of the the spirit/ demon or whatever it is on posters and what not but he's barely even in the movie. At least with the Paranormal Activity movies the ending is climatic or has some kind of pay off but with this it was just meh.

Agree 100%

 

[Lasirius]

I was genuinely tense almost this whole movie, they knew to relieve some of it from time to time (Deputy So and So!) but the movie just ratcheted up even more. You could see the crowd I was with (and there actually was a crowd!) squirming in their seats, and when there was a small funny moment, they all took the opportunity to laugh just a little too much. From my experience, that generally means the tension is working. There were a few "jump scares" but the movie wasn't dependent upon them. This movie made very good use of its atmosphere. It did use elements that were a bit cliched at times, but similar to Looper in some ways it just embraced the cliches and moved on from there to do what it wanted to do.

Unlike a lot of horror films, the movie actually had some decently fleshed out characters, which adds to the tension.

Also I have a lot of respect for this movie for knowing just what not to show. Many movies would have went the Saw/Hostel route, especially just a few years ago. This movie knew when to hold back on the gore.

I do think the movie could have done a little more with its antagonist as it were, but I understand what they were doing.

Sinister isn't a perfect movie, but I have very few problems with it. It almost seems like empty praise to say its one of the best horror films that I've seen in years but its true.

Pretty much what I thought of the movie.

 

[GregComicFan]

Check out the audio review from the Spill crew...

www.spill.com

I wholeheartedly agree with their review of the film. Great film, one of the better horror films of the past few years, but the ending fell flat for me...

My girlfriend and I saw the film opening Friday night at the 10:15pm showing, packed theater. We both walked out of the movie saying the same thing. "Good movie but I saw the ending coming a mile away"

Spoiler

We both knew Ethan Hawke (and his family) would just become another video (and be murdered)...
1. He has the same family structure as all the families in the super 8 films (mom, dad, sister, brother... so one kid can go missing and one can die)
2. It's revealed very early on that one murdered family used to live in the house of another murdered family... well now Hawke's family lives in the house of a murdered family... sooooo.... now he's a target
3. and then all the spooky stuff happening at the house obviously states "You are now a target"

When Deputy So-and-So calls Hawke at the end of the film, all the information he gives Hawke was nothing the audience didn't already know...

The reveal was pointless.

Otherwise, great movie.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

As I said in the review thread, there was too much poorly handled family drama and not enough horror. And the videos became repetitive. Hawke was good, it was scary when it was allowed to be and I liked the story but the execution was off. I kinda liked it but it's no Insidious.

 

[John Locke]

When Deputy So-and-So calls Hawke at the end of the film, all the information he gives Hawke was nothing the audience didn't already know...

The reveal was pointless.

Otherwise, great movie.

I don't know about that. I saw this with a group of people and we all forgot about the information until Deputy So-and-So called even though at least once during the movie we put two and two together.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Enjoyed it.

 

[Figs]

I'm thinking about seeing this one but I have mixed feelings. I really enjoyed Insidious but thought Paranormal Activity was crap. At least it looks to be closer to Insidious than PA.

 

[Asr]

Haven't seen PA myself, but Sinister definitely had a similar vibe to Insidious.

I didn't find Sinister to be very "scary" but it was definitely tense all the way through. Felt more like a horror-suspense movie than a scary one.

I think anyone who's seen Insidious will have a good idea of what to expect and will also probably see the ending coming a mile away. It was a pretty good movie, but for me it also felt somewhat like an Insidious knock-off. Too many similarities IMO.

I prefer Insidious, but Sinister was good too, just not as good. Maybe 3/5 compared to 4/5 for Insidious.

 

[redhawk23]

As I said in the review thread, there was too much poorly handled family drama and not enough horror. And the videos became repetitive. Hawke was good, it was scary when it was allowed to be and I liked the story but the execution was off. I kinda liked it but it's no Insidious.

Am I the only one who didn't think much of Insidious?

 

[TheAQU4M4N]

Am I the only one who didn't think much of Insidious?

For some reason I dint find it to be scary at all, the execution of the demon was horrible, the only part that was creepy was at the dinner table, or where ever I was whee he saw the demons reflection.

 

[66 Face]

I really, REALLY hated Insidious. To me it felt like a Goosebumps. I did like Sinister more just because I felt the tone of the movie was more tense and kind of like The Ring.

Its did have some of the same problems as Insidious. Leave the kids with white paint and blacked out eyes for an amish fun house. Begul did nothing but remind me of the puppet from Saw. The make up in both movies is slightly below the worst member of Face Off and almost insults me as a horror fan. I still can't get over Darth Maul in Insidious.

This is where I think PA gets it right. I would rather not see anything than something so lame that it ruins the movie for me.

Look to The Ring or The Devils Backbone if you want creepy looking kids.

 

[redhawk23]

I didn't think the kids looked bad.

 

[Marvolo]

I really, REALLY hated Insidious. To me it felt like a Goosebumps. I did like Sinister more just because I felt the tone of the movie was more tense and kind of like The Ring.

Its did have some of the same problems as Insidious. Leave the kids with white paint and blacked out eyes for an amish fun house. Begul did nothing but remind me of the puppet from Saw. The make up in both movies is slightly below the worst member of Face Off and almost insults me as a horror fan. I still can't get over Darth Maul in Insidious.

This is where I think PA gets it right. I would rather not see anything than something so lame that it ruins the movie for me.

Look to The Ring or The Devils Backbone if you want creepy looking kids.

I had to listen to the commentary to get this but the reason the creature in insidious looked like darth maul is because it smears red lipstick all over its face. It wants to appear playful and safe to the children but because it doesnt know how lipstick works it ****s it up everytime. Stupid yes, but they werent going for darth maul.

 

[Infinity9999x]

As I said in the review thread, there was too much poorly handled family drama and not enough horror. And the videos became repetitive. Hawke was good, it was scary when it was allowed to be and I liked the story but the execution was off. I kinda liked it but it's no Insidious.

See, I put it above insidious. The first half was great, but then the random astral projection stuff really killed it for me. Too goofy.

And regardless of what they were going for, the demon did look like darth maul, or as I like to call him, darth Paul, the less popular cousin to maul.

 

[knowsbleed]

I really, REALLY hated Insidious. To me it felt like a Goosebumps. I did like Sinister more just because I felt the tone of the movie was more tense and kind of like The Ring.

Its did have some of the same problems as Insidious. Leave the kids with white paint and blacked out eyes for an amish fun house. Begul did nothing but remind me of the puppet from Saw. The make up in both movies is slightly below the worst member of Face Off and almost insults me as a horror fan. I still can't get over Darth Maul in Insidious.

This is where I think PA gets it right. I would rather not see anything than something so lame that it ruins the movie for me.

Look to The Ring or The Devils Backbone if you want creepy looking kids.

I didn't like Insidious nor found it very scary myself. I wonder how this movie compares... if I found Insidious rather boring as far as scares, geniunely creepy scares, will I find this movie boring? I love the trailer but are all the scary scenes in the trailer and not much is left for the actual movie itself?

 

[Marvolo]

I didn't like Insidious nor found it very scary myself. I wonder how this movie compares... if I found Insidious rather boring as far as scares, geniunely creepy scares, will I find this movie boring? I love the trailer but are all the scary scenes in the trailer and not much is left for the actual movie itself?

There is a lot not shown in the trailers.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I enjoyed this film overall. This and Insidious have been two of my favorite recent horror films, because they both suscribe to the "less is more" technique (mostly). I've never gotten into gore-horror. It's never scared me, and I prefer films that utilize atmosphere and story-telling to create a sense of dread. I thought this film did that pretty well. I did they utilized a few too many "jump scares." I mean, it's not bad, but just a few too many. I've always felt those were "cheap scares" really. I mean, yeah, of course people are going to jump when you slowly take down the music and then jack up the sound in a second.

As I said above, I did feel this was better then Insidious overall. It's more consitent. The first half of Insidious is great, but then it felt like they switched writers halfway through, and the whole astral projection thing really killed it for me. Sinister stays consistent all the way through.

 

[glorynation]

Insidious is way better but I enjoyed Sinister... the Super 8 films were genuinely terrifying

 

[66 Face]

I had to listen to the commentary to get this but the reason the creature in insidious looked like darth maul is because it smears red lipstick all over its face. It wants to appear playful and safe to the children but because it doesnt know how lipstick works it ****s it up everytime. Stupid yes, but they werent going for darth maul.

That almost makes me hate it even more because it seems like a cover up. The make up around the eyes looks like a flame ending in a perfect line.

Is this the guy handling The Poltergeist remake?

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I really don't get why everyone is saying this movie is scary. Besides the creepy super 8 films there wasn't anything else that was scary or creepy. And most of the jump scares are ruined by trailer. The demon or whatever is all but non existent ( he maybe has 3-4 mins of screen time). And besides that the plot wasn't even all that engaging even though Ethan Hawk gives it his all. I am not a huge fan of the Paranormal Activity series ( but I somewhat enjoy them) but the ending of the third movie was creepier and more intense than anything shown in Sinister in my opinion.

 

[Nightmare]

Loved it, haven't been that scared in a long time. Maybe ever.

 

[Wolfwood]

I really enjoyed it, though I didn't find it to be super scary. I would say it was unsettling.

Two things and they kind of contradict each other:

-I loved the way the characters were placed on screen. They took up a small portion of the screen while the darkness always seemed to be threatening to overwhelm them. I kept scanning the shadows expecting to see Mr. Boogie hiding in the background.
-What do these people have against turning on the lights? Ethan Hawke flipped on a light switch once in the entire film. Also, I'm not afraid of the dark, but the daughter's room was pitch black, way too dark even for me. Not even a damn night light?

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Am I the only one who didn't think much of Insidious?

No.

Insidious was much better the first time i saw it when it was called Poltergeist.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

No.

Insidious was much better the first time i saw it when it was called Poltergeist.

I made a smimilar comment way back when. I didn't care for Insidious once it got to the astral projection stuff. It felt like two different films.