I like to think that someday a Director’s Cut will be issued for Sinister that will be the exact same movie minus the last three seconds. But I can forgive Scott Derrickson for adding that ill-advised jump-scare because he claims it was only added after Blumhouse intervened. Apparently, the studio found the director’s ending such a downer that he was ordered to do something to change the mood. And so goes the story of one of the cheapest jump scares ever put on film. 

For the record, I am not anti-jump scare and this is just a repeat of one that happened earlier in the film. But its placement here is unnecessary, makes no sense and shatters Derrickson’s intended atmospheric and deliciously malicious ending. 

I only bring this up because in every discussion I have had about Sinister, the infamous last jump scare always comes up. There is no doubt those final seconds have done damage to the film’s lasting appeal, which is too bad since Sinister is one of the best horror movies of the last quarter century.

Sinister follows Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), a true crime writer chasing the former success he found with his best-seller, Kentucky Blood. After Kentucky Blood, Oswalt wrote two other books, but one was marred in controversy and damaged his credibility. Hoping for one last shot at fame, Oswalt buys a home where all the members of the previous Stevenson family- with the exception of their missing youngest girl- was murdered in a hanging. But Ellison fails to mention the house’s morbid history to his own family.

When exploring the house, Ellison finds a projector and a box of Super 8 films in the attic. The films are all labeled with unalarming names like “Pool Party ‘66” and “BBQ ‘79”. Curious to see if these films hold clues to the family’s hanging, Ellison hides them in his personal office and starts to watch them at night. 

And speaking of the tapes, we actually get a preview of “Family Hanging Out ‘11” at the very start of Sinister and this definitely sets an eerie atmosphere. The Super 8’s are actually snuff films and the first Ellison plays shows the Stevenson hanging- with nooses around four family members’ necks as a pole saw cuts a branch heavy enough to lift them all off the ground. It’s a gruesome way to start a movie and one with an air of mystery. Who is the out of frame person using the pole saw? Ellison hopes to find out.

The snuff tapes aspect of Sinister hints at Ringu. When shown, there is a stark contrast between them and the rest of the film. The Super 8 footage is grainy, but the content is hyper-real and voyeuristic, briefly providing the film a found footage feel. Each follows a similar pattern. They include snapshots of families sharing moments together before abruptly cutting to their gruesome end. Derrickson shows acute awareness of the placement of each Super 8 in the wider narrative, intentionally saving fan-favourite “Lawn Work ‘86” for last. And their inclusion helps make Sinister innovative as a horror experience.

And though the snuff tapes are more about atmosphere then scares, they contribute to what makes Sinister so damn scary. The films themselves are unnerving, but the things that happen around the house every time Ellison finishes one are absolutely terrifying. Derrickson uses the tapes as part of a set you up, tear you down two-step formula, but then he starts to mess with the formula once we get comfortable with it. Sinister is a film where jump scares can happen everywhere. And I love a good jump scare. 

But where Sinister really shines is with the internal conflict in Ethan Hawke’s character, Ellison Oswalt. Ellison has made solving true crimes his life at the expense of his family. There is a family history we learn about in fragments. His son, often the target of bullying, suffers from night terrors after snooping in his father’s office while he was writing one of his previous novels. His daughter has become used to having her life regularly uprooted by a move. And his wife is a little too familiar with being harassed by local police and getting hateful looks at the grocery store. Ellison’s work uncovers the darkest recesses of the human mind and his presence stirs up painful feelings within communities in need of healing. But, ironically, it is his family who seems to pay the biggest price. 

It is also Ellison’s story, and Hawke’s fantastic portrayal, that gives the film its meta-commentary. Derrickson uses Ellison’s passion for true crime as subtext for horror content and the snuff tapes are a substitute for horror films. On a personal level, Ellison struggles with limits and it is hard to ignore how his occupation has an effect on his mental health. Under this context, Sinister is a film about someone who pushed past his own limits and is struggling with the consequences. But Ellison is also a husband and father and his obsessions can be seen as negatively impacting his interactions with his family. As a father and a lover of horror films, I see both as very relatable conflicts- and this relatability is what elevates Sinister from the fray. Hawke’s intensity helps to sell these underlying messages, as he does a great job making us empathise with a character who has no quips about putting his family in the crosshairs to further his career.

I’ve said so much and I haven’t even started on Mr. Boogie and his little band of ghoulish sidekicks. Mr. Boogie, or Bughuul, is a nasty, memorable horror villain that has become iconic in horror even though his legacy currently spans only two movies. (And he is criticized for looking a little too similar to the guitarist of Slipknot.) The slivers of mythos Derrickson provides fills in enough blanks to keep us satisfied at the film’s conclusion. I have little doubt that Boogie will make future appearances in film, perhaps a prequel, when somebody somewhere decides the time is right.

And you got to love that industrial-techno-horror soundtrack that plays through the snuff films. It is just fits so well.

Sinister is a must-see movie for modern horror fans. Even without the final three seconds, it is, easily, one of the scariest films ever made. It is also an impressively self-reflective horror film. It strikes a cord with fans of horror- particularly those of us who seek out the scariest or most extreme- because it reminds us that there can be consequences to ourselves or our family if we push beyond comfort limits. 

That Sinister has not created a lasting franchise is not a reflection of its quality. The truth is that Sinister’s magic is probably only a one time affair. (But that’s also true of the first film of a lot of successful franchises.) Derrickson’s direction, Hawke’s anti-hero, the mystery of Bughuul, the originality of the snuff films…these are things that, as Sinister 2 reminds us, are not easily recaptured. Sinister is more than just jump scares, which is why it is best to just look away at the 1 hour, 46 minute, 43 second mark. If so, you get a perfect, surprisingly nihilistic for the American system, horror movie. Assuming you have the nerve to get to the end. This film is intense! You’ve been warned.