Finally, a truly scary horror movie

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2014)

I love horror movies. But they have to be good horror movies. I don't like slashfests. I don't like writers who treat the viewer like a moron. I don't like plot holes you can drive a big rig through. I don't like to be left hanging at the end of the movie, wondering what the heck it was that just happened. Probably the last horror movie I liked was "The Others." I liked "The Strangers," but it got too gory. I've been searching for something worthwhile to watch and had a lot of hope for "The Conjuring." (But honestly, as in "The Conjuring," when you're dealing with a family that isn't even smart enough to own a flashlight, it was hard to have any empathy for them.) The night I watched "Sinister," I had just finished watching "The New Daughter" and I can't recommend that, either.
Yes, "Sinister" requires you to have suspension of disbelief. But it does not require you to leave your brain at home. It is truly creepy in horrifically original ways. It doesn't throw out a lot of stupid red herrings that get you worked up over nothing or just leave you confused. I was gasping with shock up until the last frame. Ethan Hawke was awesome as the true crime writer whose subject matter for his current book leaves him coming slowly unglued, and with good reason.
This is a stark, sparse horror movie that doesn't waste your time with a lot of filler. It doesn't need it. This is an excellent horror movie. Take it from someone who loves them and sees far too few of them.