Sinister

Super 8 in the role of a powerful cult artifact and a gateway between worlds, a stray member of the band MAYHEM in the role of Mr. Bubák... Although is once again a case of recycling all of the known ingredients, their connection is not at all a forgettable and stupid. The motif of a writer obsessed with his former fame, who sells his soul and betrays the principles (we all know what come next...), the motif of a film that "drinks life from creatures", a sound component oscillating between an industrial and a radio breakdown on a Turkish minaret... It's too bad that Derrickson has to put few cheap "now the whole movie theatre will scream" moments in there, and that he does not just work with the long nervous atmosphere that escalates so beautifully. The motif for serial murder, which allows the viewer to watch the film in a way other than as "pure sinister adrenaline", is not at all useless. At least the "mystery" (no matter how ridiculous) managed to hook me solidly. As I don't tend to like US horror movies in general, this one is pretty good. (04/02/2013)

Derrickson's got it handled, no doubt about it. He just follows the routine template that doesn't offer a single surprise, and ultimately sells even the extended cut's point as expected from the first screening. That’s perhaps a bit of a shame, as Hawke's excellent performance, solid direction and Young's impressive soundtrack pull it high into the red otherwise. [Inside joke: Norwegian black metal and Pishin on the left did their thing in the movie theater. :)] (12/11/2012)

I can’t say that I was impressed, frightened or frozen. I'm actually disillusioned. I found the supernatural elements in Sinister superfluous to the point of awkwardness, the music terrible (and almost none of the scenes that would be better with silence can do without it), the story is stale... And although it was probably the director's intention, I was incredibly irritated by the omnipresent pitch blackness that made the film just a weird radio play at times (I should note that I watched the DVD and at night and still had trouble discerning what was what, who was who, etc.). It could have been better. (18/03/2014)

I was really looking forward to Sinister because my favorite reviewers usually give it 4 stars and add positive comments, where the word "atmosphere" is often mentioned. After watching it, I am mostly puzzled and have a mediocre impression of it. The only thing I can fully appreciate is the sound work. If I saw the movie in a decent mood at the movie theater, it is quite possible that I would lean towards giving it three stars. The rest is somewhat routine, predictable, and not innovative within the genre, although decently crafted. It did not impress me. It did not even come close to evoking the emotions that, let's say, watching The Ring once did. Simply put, a horror that does not evoke tension does not work as it should. Overall impression: 45%. (14/10/2018)

Mr. Boogie and his collection of home movies, like “mowing the lawn" and “barbeque" in action. A wild soundtrack, then primarily an excellent atmosphere and a twist for all mystery fans. The couple of references to Stephen King are also very fine, the same applies to the actors. Ethan Hawke acts precisely in between nice guy/madman who never gives up and his wife and kid are also really fine. The high point of the picture of course was watching the movies filmed on Super 8. P.S.: The extended version is sometimes seriously better than the original. (11/11/2012)