Best Horror Movie Ever Made. Period.

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2013)

Plot: A family has just moved into the home of a recent crime scene. The husband, who is an author, plans on getting an idea for his new novel. What he does get are actually five Super 8 mm film reels showing families being murdered. In each case, there was the involvement of an unknown entity called Bughuul, or as called by the children "Mr. Boogie". The whole idea is that Bughuul is a Pagan Devil who lives in drawings, images, video, etc. He can only be brought out through those images. And that's the point of the these film negatives: to keep him alive... but why? Bughuul apparently feeds off of children. Children are especially vulnerable. That's why in every murder case in the movie, one of the children was missing.
I am getting ahead of myself, but the plot was set-up perfectly, it doesn't go too fast, and it doesn't go too slow. It's at just the right pace, introducing character traits and motivations. As the writer keeps going on delving into these murder mysteries, you can slowly see his personality change. It's not a major aspect of the film, but it is noticeable.
I should note that the Film reel footage is treated like those Find the Hidden Object images; you know, there ones where you have to go back and look at them closely to notice the thing in the picture that makes it stand out. That's what happens in these recordings... Characters:
Ethan Hawke plays an author who is on the verge of getting an idea for his new novel. He moves into the home of a recent crime scene to get more insight on the case. He's a very purpose-driven character; he wants to do all that he can to do it right. He spend hours getting as much information as he can about these 8mm Film reels he finds. His wife is the standard house wife and mother figure, but she does have her moments of being open and seeming caring about her husband's work. The children or more or less throw-aways, except for... wait, what am I saying? They're BOTH important to the plot. One of them is the false-prediction trigger and the other is... eh, I won't give it away.
Visuals:
Again, very disturbing imagery in this movie. The deaths these families encounter is stuff you would never want to have to face. The creature featured in the movie is also very disturbing. Bughuul, or Mr. Boogie, is one of the freakiest designs for any horror character I've ever seen. He is literally the stuff of nightmares. The point is, they did an amazing job with the make-up. Some of the best I've ever seen in any movie.
Sound:
The music is very eerie and sets the tone for the scenes well. When the 8mm Camera is panning around a sickening scene, the music has a very disturbing or even haunted feeling. This is also enhanced by good use of sound effects. I won't spoil anything for you, but I'll just say... half the movie is the audio.
Rewatchability:
This is the best horror movie I've ever seen. I luckily got to see it at midnight in the theater... and man-o-man was it scary. I couldn't walk outside my house for a couple days without being very cautious and look about everywhere. I'd say buy it on Blu-ray or DVD. This is a must-see for any movie or horror movie fanatic.