Director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, 2005), returns to his horror-genre roots with this haunting flick that takes all of the familiar trappings of horror movies and turns them on their head. Producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) joins Scott in bringing us that familiar, in your face, nerve-racking exciting feel to the film. Moreover Ethan Hawk is phenomenal in the lead role as Ellison, a washed-up crime novelist, trying to get that last hit novel to completion. I’ve always admired him as an actor, and while it’s rare to see him outside the artsy theater scene these days, he brings the same credibility to this that he would to any film. Definitely, it’s refreshing to see a horror flick where the celebrity named in the lead role isn’t just simply around to collect a fat paycheck. Hawke certainly gives it his all in this one.
Like many of the really good horror flicks, one can name, Sinister is a slow in build up to the climax, but once it gets going, it turns in to a ‘soil-your-underwear’ scary flick, even though, I agree that the ‘found-footage’ thing has certainly been done to death. Having said this, don’t go in expecting wall-to-wall scares, as that doesn’t seem to be Derrickson’s MO. However, if you’re a horror fan it’s a ‘cannot miss.’ READ FULL REVIEW