Not Scary BUT Disturbing

Rating: 7/10 (22 October 2012)

Sinister is one of the rare horror movies to come out in recent years that actually makes an impression on the viewer by being an original work and will be remembered. I'm a HUGE horror fan, but I have to face the awful truth time and time again that horror movies today SUCK. They suck so incredibly bad. With the exception of Insidious and now, thankfully, Sinister, every horror movie to come out of recent years is certifiable trash. Everything is either a remake from earlier successes, a remake of a more successful foreign film, a movie about demonic possession, "torture porn" (and I did love the original Saw) or a mash-up of every cliché imaginable overdone with cheap CGI. Sinister works because it avoids all of these.
Instead of relying on cheap tricks, Sinister uses atmosphere, mood, tension and pretty good acting to heighten the horror. I didn't find the ACTUAL story all that scary; the "deity" didn't quite do it for me, but luckily, the movie didn't need to rely on it as its only means to produce scares. The one word that comes to mind when I think of Sinister is DISTURBING. It's not essentially a "scary" movie but a very dark and DISTURBING one. You understand this from the opening scene. The home videos that Ethan Hawke's character watches will definitely linger with you.
Sinister of course isn't perfect. I guessed the ending almost right away and knew what was happening. And why doesn't anyone turn on a light when they hear something scary at night? TURN ON THE FREAKIN' LIGHTS! Your kid suffers night terrors and wanders around outside? Lock his damn door! Characters in horror movies are usually pretty stupid and don't do what they're supposed to do anyway so you really can't hold that against this movie. The "pop-up" scares were predictable as well.
Even with silly flaws Sinister is successful because it goes back to the basic formula for making a genuine horror movie. Mood and atmosphere are scarier than any cheap CGI monster.