So-so Movie but Decent Horror

Rating: 6/10 (22 February 2014)

(Major Spoilers) Bad Movies (especially in horror) rely on dim-witted, dumb, or ridiculously stubborn characters to make their plots work, and unfortunately "Sinister" fits this category wholly. Truly great horror movies (Shining/Omen/Jaws etc) are great in part because the characters in the stories do not need to be rock-dumb or stubborn to help the story along. Storywriter/director Derrickson doesn't seem to understand this. The movie borrows heavily from "Ringu" and some from "The Ninth Gate". It is sufficiently foreboding and atmospheric, and has clever ideas and execution. It is not ridiculously gruesome either but implies it. There is potential for the filmmakers to make an excellent movie and classic horror, but there's too much fall-back to the traps of cliché. This one's a missed opportunity. 6/10