Sinister

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2015)

A novelist turned true crime writer moves into a house where a mass murder was committed; one of the victims has not been found, a young girl, but she is presumed dead by the local sheriff, who doesn't like the newcomer on account of things he's said about police officers in general.
Our scribe has of course told his wife about the connection, although she has no idea they are living in the actual house where the murders were committed, and when she finds out, she is understandably livid. Well dear he tells her, the victims weren't killed in the house but in the back garden, hung from that thar tree. Unsurprisingly, she's not buying it.
On top of that, their son suffers from night terrors and his daughter wants to move back to their previous palatial home. Naturally this doesn't wash, and of course he wants to both solve the murders and find the missing girl alive. Then he makes a mysterious find, some old style film and a projector in the attic which the police and everyone else appear to have overlooked. When he views this film and with some help from a junior law officer who has a degree in criminology, he becomes convinced this is the work of a serial killer who has been at large since the 1960s. Or could this be some sort of cult? More to the point, how much of it is in his head?
His helper with the badge points him to an academic who suggests there is indeed a demonic connection, an ancient deity called Bagul, the devourer of children. So is he looking for a serial killer, a demon, or maybe he should just pack up and run? After yet another scare he chooses the latter, but is flight the right thing? Somehow you get the impression this is all going to end very badly.
This film has some good atmospheric moments; the implication is that the ghosts of the victims are not in his head, and some of the happenings defy rational explanation. Many films of this type are confusing with dream sequences, flashbacks and so forth. By and large, "Sinister" avoids these pitfalls, but don't watch it if you like happy endings.