100 movies: Sinister

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100 movies of 2012
Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

SinisterSinister (10/10/12)

Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.

Tis the season. The season for all sorts of horrors to come out of the woodwork. Sinister being one of the latest ones. It’s been touted as a found-footage film, but I didn’t see it as a found footage film at all. The so-called found-footage merely plays a role in the film, rather than be what the film is. Either way, Sinister’s not a bad horror film.

That’s a glowing review, isn’t it – ‘not a bad horror film’. It’s apt, I think. You’ve got a decent, if not totally unoriginal set up. Freaky things go on. Freaky things go on with kids. It’s the final act of the film that stands it above a lot of the horror films I’ve seen of late. Though, I won’t be divulging what happens there of course. That’d be telling!

Instead what I will tell you is that without Ethan Hawke leading this little horror film, I’m not sure it would be quite as good as it was. Playing the central role and the audience’s ‘in’ for the film, he played it well. Following Ethan Hawke’s Ellison as he delves deeper into the mysteries he’s trying to figure out is fairly engrossing stuff. Just how it affects him and the knock on effects on his family.

While I didn’t get scared and the jumps are mostly cheapish sound related jumps. There’s a bit of originality here that’s worth a watch this Halloween season.
Rating: 3/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

76 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)
  41. Prometheus 4/5 (03/06/12)
  42. The Tree of Life 2/5 (04/06/12)
  43. The Lovely Bones 3/5 (05/06/12)
  44. Snow White and the Huntsman 3/5 (06/06/12)
  45. The Devil’s Backbone 4/5 (07/06/12)
  46. Britain in a Day 5/5 (11/06/12)
  47. The French Connection 4/5 (15/06/12)
  48. Insomnia 3/5 (16/06/12)
  49. Rebel Without a Cause 4/5 (22/06/12)
  50. A Lonely Place to Die 3/5 (26/06/12)
  51. Killer Joe 3/5 (29/06/12)
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man 4/5 (03/07/12)
  53. Raising Arizona 4/5 (04/07/12)
  54. Horrible Bosses 4/5 (06/07/12)
  55. Broadcast News 3/5 (07/07/12)
  56. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4/5 (07/07/12)
  57. Miller’s Crossing 4/5 (18/07/12)
  58. The Dark Knight Rises 5/5 (20/07/12)
  59. 21 Jump Street 5/5 (29/07/12)
  60. The Mystery Team 3/5 (07/08/12)
  61. The Help 4/5 (11/08/12)
  62. The Bourne Legacy 3/5 (13/08/12)
  63. The Expendables 2 4/5 (17/08/12)
  64. Brave 5/5 (19/08/12)
  65. Dracula 3/5 (19/08/12)
  66. The Woman in Black 3/5 (24/08/12)
  67. The Mummy 4/5 (28/08/12)
  68. Lawless 3/5 (30/08/12)
  69. Real Steel 2/5 (31/08/12)
  70. [REC] 3 Genesis 2/5 (04/09/12)
  71. Take Shelter 4/5 (15/09/12)
  72. Dredd 3D 3/5 (19/09/12)
  73. The Apartment 5/5 (23/09/12)
  74. Young Frankenstein 5/5 (25/09/12)
  75. Looper 5/5 (28/09/12)
  76. Sinister 3/5 (10/10/12)

32 Comments

  1. Nice review Jaina. Wasn’t perfect, but yet, it wasnā€™t all that bad either. I had a great time when it would just scare me for fun, but still feel deserved and not one of those typical, cheap ones we see in so many crappy horror movies of today.

  2. I heard this one is better than most of the crappy horror films that were out lately, so I’m probably going to try to catch it this Halloween!

  3. Well…I wasn’t expecting that. I love horror movies and you know, it’s hard to find a really good horror movie. I don’t know if I’m going to see this movie on the big screen, which is a pity, I know. Do you think I should watch this on the big screen?

    • Watching it on the big screen is worth it, I’d say. If you can block out all the screaming stupids in the audience!

  4. I’ll think I’ll give Sinister a miss then, looks to be decent , but there are probably other horror films I want to catch instead, which have been on my list for ages. I’ll wait for Hawke in Before Midnight (2013). Good review

    • I would say yes to that. Definitely better ones out, probably not on the big screen, but rental and the sorts.

      Can’t wait for Before Midnight! It feels like it’s just around the corner!

  5. Nice review. I gave this movie the same score as you did and I also had some of the same feelings about it. It wasn’t scary, but it wasn’t bad either.

  6. Can’t say the trailer made it look that good but I’ve been surprised by some of the high ratings it’s been getting. Think I’m going to hold out for DVD though.

  7. Thanks for the info, Jaina. Sounds like a decent rental, but I won’t pay extra to see it in the theater.

  8. Let’s face it. There is no such thing as a scary horror movie these days, especially once you have grown past the age of 8 or something šŸ˜‰ Filmmakers just don’t know how to hit that source of true terror and simply go for the cheap entertainment instead. I hear this is above average so it should be worth a watch.

    • Above average, good for rental. But yeah, there’s nothing truly chilling out there any more. Sad šŸ™

  9. A somewhat original horror flick is quite rare indeed. Still horror is not my cup of tea and this one looks quite terrifying to me just from the trailer.

  10. Even a bad scary movie still scares me, so I prolly won’t be watching šŸ˜€ Will you be seeing Paranormal Activity 4? I heard on the radio today that a movie theatre mixed up PA4 and Madagascar. A movie theatre packed full of kiddies and their parents got a real scare when PA4 started!

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