Sinister warns of watching films you find in the attic

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2012)

Over the years horror films have gotten to be a dime a dozen. More often than not they just fail to deliver. With the found footage craze, it added a new depth, but sadly ran its course almost as fast as it became popular. The latest to try it's hand in delivering something new to the genre is Sinister, that while it's not a found footage film, does use some of the technique to tell what looks to be a somewhat unique tale.
Sinister follows a crime novelist and his family as they move into a new home for him to work on his latest true-crime novel. The closer he comes to the truth, the more he realizes he might have put his family in the path of pure evil. This film definitely delivers on not only the story it wants to tell, but in the creepy nature it sets out to achieve. The use of the old school films to tell the story adds a new dimension that really stepped this film up. Ethan Hawke did an awesome job with his character and delivering the obsessive nature needed to bring this part to life. The film takes its time to build up the strange disturbed story that is needed, but is also where the film has a minor issue. There are some aspects to the story that are just not needed and really seep in from time to time and end up slowing things down causing it to lose some of the momentum its building. Thankfully that is the only issue with this movie. It really delivers a unique addition to the horror genre with a new creature/character that could easily be brought back from time to time if done correctly. There isn't a lot of blood here, but there is a lot of moments that showcase the fills to come, while really sticking images in your brain that affect you without ever seeing them.
This is a great addition to the genre, but one that will no doubt be met with mixed feelings due to its sometime slow nature. Despite the sometimes slow pace this is a cleverly creepy horror film that is sure to be a refreshing taste for those fans of the genre.