To the left, to the left.

Rating: 6/10 (24 June 2013)

Desperate for another bestseller, struggling true-crime author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves his family into a new home, conveniently forgetting to mention that it was the site of a gruesome multiple murder. A search of the supposedly empty attic turns up a box of home movies; as Ellison views the old reels of film, he learns of other murders that are connected to the case he is investigating, and following some strange supernatural occurrences, realises that, by taking up residence in this house, he has not only endangered his own life but those of his family as well.
Sinister drags all manner of tried and tested horror movie tricks out of the bag in an attempt at seriously scaring its audience, but all to no avail, the shadowy house, creepy children, loud noises and freaky faces rarely having the desired effect thanks to their sheer predictability. Stick with it, though, and the film eventually gets under the skin, director Scott Derrickson very gradually building a sense of dread with an intriguing story that is clearly heading somewhere nasty; the real fun of Sinister is not in its cheap scare tactics, but in the carefully crafted foreboding atmosphere, and in trying to figure out the exact nature of the film's bizarre occurrences.
Sadly, the revelation of a child-eating demon named Bughool being responsible for the mysterious murders comes as a bit of a let down, and the final pay-off is nowhere near shocking as it should have been. After all that has gone before, the previous murders seen in detail, the film wimps out on showing us what should have been the most brutal of them all. Sinister would have been infinitely more disturbing had the ultimate killings been depicted in nauseatingly graphic detail (be honest, who doesn't enjoy a really gory axe murder or four?).
Oh well, that's mainstream horror for you, I suppose.