If you found footage on Super 8 in your attic would you play it?...

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2012)

Exposition, it's important and Sinister gets to it right from the off. I mention this because if Saw or Hostel are your bag then maybe this one won't suit, but if you like a good thriller with added chills then you're at the right movie.
Established but hasn't had a hit for a while author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is moving his family to a new home to research a true crime case that he hopes will get him back on the best sellers list. A disturbing series of murders linked to the house provide the backdrop for the research but things take a supernatural turn when a mysterious box of Super 8 found footage is discovered in the loft
Appearing in the images is a figure which with further investigation with the help of a University professor is identified as Bughuul and things here take a turn for the occult. Curiosity drives Ellison further into this angle of the investigation to the point of obsession as he tries to find out what happened to the previous occupants of the house but the deeper he delves it becomes all too apparent that some things should be left well alone and the proverbial cat is in mortal danger.
The mood of the film is incredibly tense with more than one nod to Kubrick's Shining. It's a slow burner with the viewer being taken along for the ride with the knowledge that the brakes are shot here and the ledge is fast approaching but, like Ellison you really want to know the answers even though all logic suggests leave it alone now.
It's a credit to the Scott Derrickson that the characters are fleshed out and we can empathise with them even in the circumstances that prevail. So often in horrors this is not the case and it can be hard to care about people you know nothing about when they are in peril merely for effect.
Ethan Hawke does a great job of conveying the author desperate for all the trappings of success for a second time around and (you can't help but think if he could just settle for a teaching gig somewhere his life would be less hazardous) but he is driven and ambitious and downright stubborn, ambition and integrity now giving way to greed and recognition. His wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) has pretty much had enough of chasing the dream too but is ever supportive and a bloody heavy sleeper considering the things that go bang in the night in the house. A dark and warped soundtrack by Christopher Young adds to the horror as it unfolds and the performances solidify the tension, especially from the younger members of the cast. There are a few jump out of your seat moments and also more subtle, uncomfortable viewings of the super 8 footage that put a horrendous spin on the found footage narrative where you can't help but watch for clues with Ellison as they sear off the screen.
In a perfect world the build up to the film could have been a little more secretive ideally, as trailer footage can unfortunately give the audience major deja vu when a couple of scenes are building to a big scare you'll have seen it already but there are plenty more where they came from.
All in all an effective and tense thriller that will have some of you sleeping with the lights on for a couple of nights and a new found fear of attic space!
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