Sinister (2012)

Last year, I read about a study that said, based on viewers’ heart rates, that 2012’s Sinister was the scariest movie ever made. Of course, like any study, there are bound to be doubters and skeptics asking “Well, what other movies did they watch?” or similar questions. Regardless, I’d never seen it and I was eager to put it to the test.

True crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves his family to a town in Pennsylvania to write a book about a murder that took place there. Oswalt hasn’t had a successful book in over 10 years and is in need of a hit to get back on his feet financially. He doesn’t tell his wife or kids that he’s actually bought the house where the murders he is writing about took place.

Hearing sounds in the attic, he discovers a Super 8 projector and some reels of film. All of them contain footage of murders, including the one that took place in the house in which he’s living. He begins to investigate their connection to one another unaware of the fact that, by watching them, he’s unleashed something (ahem) sinister.

Make no mistake, Sinister is a scary movie. I am not a fan of horror films that depend solely on jump scares to frighten the audience. If there’s no atmosphere to fire my imagination, the cheap “gotcha” moments become more annoying than anything else. Director Scott Derrickson creates an environment where your imagination can go wild. And then, he layers on the jump scares.

Cinematographer Christopher Norr uses the stark contrasts between darkness and light to punctuate certain scenes. The absolutely unnerving musical score by Christopher Young — which sounds like backward masking at times — makes excellent use of low, rumbling bass to create a feeling of dread.

Ethan Hawke brings believability to the multifaceted role of a man equally pushed by stress, fear, and curiosity. Juliet Rylance, as the wife who’s seen her husband get a little too deep into his previous projects, provides exemplary support.

It’s only in the final reel that Sinister wobbles a bit. The ending just didn’t land for me like the rest of the movie emotionally. It wasn’t a cop out or a twist as much as it just felt predictable. Still, though, it didn’t ruin the experience for me.

I don’t think I can pay the movie a higher compliment than this little anecdote. Fifteen minutes after watching Sinister in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in my living room beginning to work on this review. My dog barked at something, and I nearly had a heart attack. I was still very wound up from the movie in broad daylight.

Is Sinister the scariest movie of all time? I think it certainly has to be considered as one the best candidates for that honor. But that’s a debate I don’t think anyone would win.