Sinister: cliche done well

It had been really long time since I go to the movies for a horror show. I mean a real horror show, not the survival pseudo horror such as Resident Evil. Since there is nothing interesting to watch in Ipoh, Sinister probably is the better choice. ( Come on, they decide to skip better rated shows such as Looper or Thieves but instead show some other poorer movies)


The story is simple. Crime writer Ellison decide to write on a murder of a family whereby one of the daughter went missing. As foolish enough, he moved into the house of the murder together with his family. As he dig deeper, he found that there is more than what he bargained for and decide to move out.

SPOILER AHEAD


He basically discovered home made clips of the murder, and discover more murders link with it. More clues and extra ordinary experience ensues and clearly this is supernatural dark forces in play.

Acting is good, as expected from Ethan Hawke. However, it is not the actor nor actress that drive a horror movie. There is not many characters in the whole movie in fact. It is the direction and the scare tactics. It actually works in this movie.


Everything cliche about horror movie is here. The ambiguous murder story, which get me guessing whether is this a serial murder- torture movie (Hostel anyone? ); or demon worshiping which ended up in human sacrifice. Mid way in the movie it is clear that it is a run of the mill demon- haunted house story. The logic defying reason why the main characters still want to remain in a haunted house despite knowing that it is haunted. The spooky children running around (Ju-On). The possessed film (the Ring- at one point, I expect the demon to jump out from the film). And from the beginning, you know that the whole family will die in the end of the movie (practically every horror show nowadays). Even it pays homage to found footage films (Blair Witch to paranormal activities). HOWEVER, the cliche is done so well that I actually found it to be scary. Not the real ghost though. It was the build-up that is spooky. The scores. The dark corridor. The moment the ghost appeared, it ceased to become scary.

The story is bit too slow though and by the end, one may probably guess the climax. Overall, this is like a roller coaster ride. It may be so spooky that you may close your eyes during the ride, but at the end, it may not be that scary after all. I swear in the cinema this will gives me nightmare, but by now, I am happily writing  the review thinking why am I so scared.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: Not defining the genre. Not Emily Rose either but definitely one of the better horror story. cliche, but done well.