Sinister is creepy at times but still delivers some cheap scares

Rating: 7/10 (26 October 2012)

Just because something pops into a screen and makes a loud noise, doesn't necessarily make it scary. Most of us are more afraid of what we don't know. If you are on the edge of your seat because you are creeped out and you are anticipating something, but you aren't quite sure what that thing is going to be, then you are really scared. However, if you are anticipating a loud noise and then that noise that you are braced for actually happens, then you aren't scared at all. Predictable jump scares can ruin a movie.
Sinister is the latest horror film coming out this weekend that stars Ethan Hawke. Hawke plays a crime novelist that has just decided to move into a home where a family was murdered. He is hoping he can uncover something about the case so he has a story for his new book. During his investigation, he stumbles upon some old super 8 footage in his attic. After watching some of this disturbing footage, strange and unexplained events start occurring in his home.
There were parts of Sinister that I loved and then there were parts that I absolutely hated. There were moments in Sinister that were very creepy and I was genuinely scared. I was even thinking to myself, "Finally, a horror movie that is actually scaring me without resulting to cheap jumpy noises." Unfortunately, there are a lot of parts in Sinister, that lead up to cliché horror moments. For example, you hear a dull thud. The character goes to investigate and the music is slowly building up. He stops to peer into the darkness and the music comes to a quiet. After a long pause, BOOM! A face appears and a crash or a loud instrument sound erupts into your eardrums making you jump out of your seat. How many times have we seen that before? When you're expecting it, it's not scary.
Jump scares make me furious. I'm not mad because the movie startled me; I'm mad because this is lazy writing. Anyone can throw a loud moment into a scary movie. It takes real creativity to come up with something that is truly scary and completely unexpected. Fortunately, there are some of those creative moments that a fan of horror movies can appreciate. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of aspects of this movie that I enjoyed. I was very pleased with the performance of Ethan Hawke. Also, the music in Sinister is awesome. It has an edgy feel to it and it really sucks you into the scene you're watching.
Sinister could have been a fantastic horror movie and a breath of fresh air to a dying genre. The movie really did have a lot of good direction and great pacing with very scary moments. I will say that there are a tad more of the actual terrifying moments instead of the dull predictable moments making this more of a good movie than bad. For some reason though, the director decided he needed to throw in some clichés which may work for some viewers but will definitely anger the true fans of horror. B-