Proves that there's still life left in the found footage genre

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2013)

Ever since Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity the found footage genre has boomed. Now there seems to be more coming out than ever, so the freshness of it has worn off sort of like 3-D. For every 10 bad found footage films there's one good one like Sinister, which is why I now actively avoid found footage films. Sinister isn't shot from a first person style of shooting that we've grown accustomed to with most movies within the found footage genre, which is a good thing because I've grown so sick of the gimmick.
I will admit that I was letdown a bit. Maybe because the trailers promised so much more or maybe because they showed too much. Whichever the case, if you haven't seen the trailer don't watch it as it gives away some of the scares. Then we also have people doing some dumb things that we wouldn't normally do, like trying to find something in the dark instead of turning on the lights or not leaving the house right away. Once you accept these things however, the movie will become much more enjoyable.
Sinister didn't scare me as much as Insidious did, but that doesn't mean there aren't any scares. The videos are disturbing with one of them involving a lawnmower that has forever traumatized me. Kudos to the filmmakers. The "Boo!" scenes, which are plentiful aren't as cheap as you would normally find in recent horror movies. They stick with you way after the credits roll. Of course these things wouldn't have worked without atmosphere and mood which Sinister establishes effectively with the videos and the house which is creepy.
The acting is better than what you'd normally find in a horror movie. Ethan Hawke is effective as the "everyman", he's believable and he shares nice chemistry with his female co-star Juliet Rylance who plays his wife. They make a nice couple and we believe that they're husband and wife. The kids do nice jobs too and didn't manage to annoy the crap out of me. James Ransone who plays the deputy that helps Hawke with his investigation is nice as the comic relief. As for everyone else, they don't do much and are barely in the movie but, they were good nonetheless.
Then there's the ending, this is where most horror movies have the biggest problem. While I thought the ending was good, some of you may be disappointed. Yes there is a twist, but it was more obvious to me than I wanted it to be. I still liked it anyway, the same cannot be said for everyone else.
The other thing with horror movies is sound. The music in Sinister is perfect and adds another layer of creepiness to each scene and it adds that extra punch to the "Boo!" moments giving them a longer lasting effect. The make up for the creature is well-done, he's just downright terrifying and doesn't resemble anything out there(that was one of the problems with Insidious). The make-up for the children too is good making them seem more creepy than they really are.
Overall, though this is a good movie I was a tad disappointed as I expected more from what I saw in the previews. The character's do some pretty dumb things that you see in almost every horror movie but, it's more easily forgivable here and if you let it go you'll find yourself enjoying this movie more. 2012 we saw a lot of found footage movies some good to great (Vhs/The Bay/Chronicle) and some pretty terrible ones (Project X, The Devil Inside). Sinister belongs in the former category, it may have not been the best found footage movie of 2012 but, it can take it's rightful crown as the best horror movie of 2012.