A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer... Read allA controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.A controversial true-crime writer finds a box of Super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 3 wins & 14 nominations total
Fred Thompson
- Sheriff
- (as Fred Dalton Thompson)
Ethan Jack Haberfield
- Pool Party Boy
- (as Ethan Haberfield)
Nicholas King
- Bughuul
- (as Nick King)
- …
Chester the Chihuahua
- Barking Dog
- (uncredited)
Vincent D'Onofrio
- Professor Jonas
- (uncredited)
Emma Jonnz
- Flavian
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Controversial crime writer Ellison Oswalt is willing to put his family life on the line when he begins researching his next book, several deaths that occured at their new home.
A very well made, very well acted, with a good storyline, Sinister is a quality production. If I'm honest, I find it a little frustrating, I love the opening sequences, and the elderly premise of the movie, the idea of that serial killer still out there is great. What I didn't care for, was the ending, once it switches into supernatural mode, it isn't as good.
I w always thought there are too many cutaway scenes, too much filler, which pads the movie out unnecessarily, but there are plenty of jump scares, plenty of scenes to keep you entertained.
Ethan Hawke is fantastic, there's nothing more I can say, and dare I say it, his acting skills probably elevate the film somewhat.
It's definitely a decent movie, it should have been a classic.
6/10.
A very well made, very well acted, with a good storyline, Sinister is a quality production. If I'm honest, I find it a little frustrating, I love the opening sequences, and the elderly premise of the movie, the idea of that serial killer still out there is great. What I didn't care for, was the ending, once it switches into supernatural mode, it isn't as good.
I w always thought there are too many cutaway scenes, too much filler, which pads the movie out unnecessarily, but there are plenty of jump scares, plenty of scenes to keep you entertained.
Ethan Hawke is fantastic, there's nothing more I can say, and dare I say it, his acting skills probably elevate the film somewhat.
It's definitely a decent movie, it should have been a classic.
6/10.
One of the scariest horror movies I have seen in a long time. I put off watching this one for a quite a while because when I first started it I noticed it had dim lighting which is a pet peeve of mine. Once I decided to watch it at a later date however, I realized that the cinematographer actually made very effective use of light/dark contrasts, highlighting what we need to see and using the dark spaces to create a cloistering atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia. The performances are also very good, especially the lead, although I feel as though they could have given us more background on the rest of the family. Also the ending isn't what I expected at all and I feel there could have been more action but it did fit in with the rest of this movie which can be quite slow at times, but you hardly notice because of the way this film draws you into it's world. The super 8 sequences were terrifying, they had me on the edge of my seat. In my opinion Sinister is probably one of the best horror films of this decade.
Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a true crime writer that was successful in his debut with the book "Blood in Kentucky", but also has failed on his next works. He moves with his wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance), his son Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario) and his daughter Ashley (Clare Foley) to a house in King Count that belonged to the Stevenson family expecting to write a best-seller. Ellison does not tell to Tracy that the place was a crime-scene, where four members of the Stevenson family were hanged on the backyard and the girl Stephanie had gone missing.
Ellison begins his research about the murder and soon he finds a box with super 8 home videos in the attic. He watches the movies and discovers other murder cases that might be connected to other crimes. He befriends the local Deputy (James Ransone), who is his fan, and gets additional information about the cases. He also sees a creepy man in the footages and symbols painted on the wall. He contacts the specialist Professor Jonas that tells him about the cult to the legendary Bughuul. Meanwhile, Ellison and his family are frightened by spooky events in the house. Ellison decides to quit his research and return to his house, but soon he receives a phone call from the Deputy telling what are in common in the crimes.
"Sinister" is a dark and spooky horror movie with a creepy ghost story. The plot is developed in slow pace but I startled many times with the weird situations. This is the first time that I see Ethan Hawke working in this genre and he has a convincing performance. The scary and gore conclusion offers a chance for a sequel that I hope that it does not happen. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Entidade" ("The Entity")
Ellison begins his research about the murder and soon he finds a box with super 8 home videos in the attic. He watches the movies and discovers other murder cases that might be connected to other crimes. He befriends the local Deputy (James Ransone), who is his fan, and gets additional information about the cases. He also sees a creepy man in the footages and symbols painted on the wall. He contacts the specialist Professor Jonas that tells him about the cult to the legendary Bughuul. Meanwhile, Ellison and his family are frightened by spooky events in the house. Ellison decides to quit his research and return to his house, but soon he receives a phone call from the Deputy telling what are in common in the crimes.
"Sinister" is a dark and spooky horror movie with a creepy ghost story. The plot is developed in slow pace but I startled many times with the weird situations. This is the first time that I see Ethan Hawke working in this genre and he has a convincing performance. The scary and gore conclusion offers a chance for a sequel that I hope that it does not happen. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Entidade" ("The Entity")
10nikdo77
Turn of your lights. Turn up your volume. Close all your curtains. And enjoy that you can't sleep that night. Sinister is a great movie. Take a blanket and when it is scary put it over your eyes :-) I don't want to tell anything about this horror movie because anything you tell will spoil the fun, you should not know anything about the story in advance I think to keep the excitement 100%. I have read some reviews and I have to say it contains too much information however they don't contain spoilers I would suggest not to read them :-) The acting was great and I really loved the horror scenes, they were amazing. Have a great horror night!
When I watched this movie I had few expectations about it, but I ended up being satisfied with what I saw. The story revolves around a true-crime writer who, inadvertently, stumbles on a bunch of old movies with macabre scenes of murder. But if you're expecting gore and litres of blood, forget it. What is more frightening in the film is precisely what the cameras don't show but know how to suggest. The crime scenes are truly remarkable, and they were done cleverly in a long-disused (Super 8) video film that was cleverly honoured. The film is getting more and more intense, as events occur that reveal the true nature of the killer. The ending is at least unexpected. The soundtrack accompanies every moment with great discretion, managing to avoid imposing itself on the action of the film. Scott Derrickson, the director / writer, deserves the laurels, as does Ethan Hawke, who brings the lead actor to life.
Did you know
- TriviaThe family that was hanged on a tree were all played by stuntmen. However, when the scene was first done, the stunt coordinator botched the preparations for the scene, resulting in one of the actors coming loose from his harness, which went up around his neck. Fortunately he was not physically harmed, and the stunt coordinator was fired on set soon after.
- Goofs(at around 4 mins) Near the beginning of the film, we see Ashley painting a girl in red on the wall. We see that Ashley has painted the girl fully in red, however, in the next shot we see that the girl has a white space where the red paint was before.
- ConnectionsEdited into 5 Second Movies: Sinister (2012)
- SoundtracksSilence Teaches You How to Sing
Written by Kristoffer Rygg, Joern Henrik Sværen, Tore Ylvisaker
Performed by Ulver
Courtesy of Jester Records, Oslo, Norway
- How long is Sinister?Powered by Alexa
- Why was Vincent D'Onofrio uncredited?
- How did the projector and films end up back at Ellison's old house after he burned them all?
- What is "Sinister" about?
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Siniestro
- Filming locations
- 169 Middle Neck Road, Sands Point, New York, USA(The murdered family's home the Oswalts move into - "Family Hanging Out '11")
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $48,086,903
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $18,007,634
- Oct 14, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $82,515,113
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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