Supernatural Horror | Top 50 | 2012

“These books are my legacy.” “I have always supported you doing what you love, Ellison. But writing isn’t the meaning of your life. You and me, right here, this marriage, that’s the meaning of your life. And your legacy, that’s Ashley and Trevor. Your kids are your legacy.”

Is Sinister more frightening than, say, The Conjuring? The answer is absolutely, yes. Let's talk about why.

Immediately, Sinister demonstrates it is willing to massacre families on screen. This likely contributes to its reputation, which is that it is one of the scarier films ever made. This dread is essential. Within the first ten minutes, I was worried and I cared and was attached. That’s how you need to feel for this stuff to work. No threat, no attachment to me means no horror— just gore or jumps.

When I rewatched The Conjuring, I was surprised that none of the jump scares got to me, and the content didn’t scare me either: it’s fairly quickly obvious that this isn’t the film that’s going to massacre a family and their five kids on screen. Regardless of rating, The Conjuring plays as a very jumpy, very intense but safe haunted house ghost story.

Sinister throws you straight in with that snuff film and that plus the general tone demonstrates that this is a world of menace where you are absolutely about to see things you might not want to. Then, mechanistically, many of the jump scares here are not as telegraphed so they are way higher impact. Some have music but others come out of the blue. You already have an air of general menace, so the scares feel earned. That makes it enjoyable.

Possibly more importantly, I was most struck and surprised by the quality of the dialogue and acting compared to similar films and how quickly and economically it did character development. But of course, this is the director who gave us The Exorcism of Emily Rose, so I shouldn’t be surprised. The conversations between characters start approaching more complex subjects—I could have picked so many conversations like the quote above. For what it’s worth, that is real. I’ve had that conversation. Yes it sucks.

And last thing, not talking about comparison anymore: that closing song with the kids counting is absolutely excellent and it was stuck in my head for days.

This is one of the classics of the 2010s. It was even better for me on rewatch. Knowing why things are happening makes it more frightening. It’s not a favorite of mine, but I really like it plenty and it’s a must watch.

Fully recommended. Watch or rewatch away.

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Supernatural Horror | Top 50 | 2012
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