Sinister
Directed by Scott Derrickson
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.
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Sinister Ratings & Reviews
- joelwaters28021 March 2026Scariest movie ever. Great plot, but terrible jump scares.
- Jennifer Patterson9 July 2025I was hesitant because I've never been a horror movie person. A friend got to me, and because I trust him, I gave it a shot. OMGOODNESS!!! Both of the movies are fantastic! My favorite character is obviously Deputy So-and-So..
- Richard Gobin25 September 2025A genuinely scary movie with a chilling atmosphere.
- dominicr2329 July 2025so scary amazing movie
- BRANDON JAMES MCCOLLOUGH27 February 2026“Creepy, tense, and full of moments that stick with you after the credits roll. One of the better modern supernatural horrors.”
- 2m6xt1 July 2025Kinda boring
- Kevin Ward7 July 2025After seeing The Black Phone with my oldest son, we decided to check this out together since it seems to have many of the same ingredients that worked so well. Scott Derrickson direction, Ethan Hawke starring, children in peril, serial killer with a supernatural slant and of course some grainy video footage. We both had a great time with this. It’s not as scary as I was expecting. Kind of felt like he could have prevented the whole scenario by 1. Not moving into the murder house and/or 2. Turning on some god damn lights. It does have some genuine creep out moments, particularly when there’s creepy ass kids involved. It’s has a satisfyingly deranged ending. Great flick.
- livwomack26 January 2026sorry but this is the scariest movie i’ve ever seen. i didn’t really care for the ending though.
- Drake70713 February 2026Pretty good. Don't normally like evil spirit type movies, but the cast was good and fine story.
- crisl.6 January 2026It's not your usual "scary" movie but can appreciate the ending isn't like most where something that's been around for years and it takes something lame like a prayer to end it all. Minus one star for the "jump scares" which are predictable.
- Jake27 August 2025This is THE modern day horror film for me personally. This shit hits so good in all the right ways, check it out. Leave hate below if you didn't like it I'm ok with that Thanks for joining this here ted talk
- Daniel Schmid7 July 2025The right amount of creepy and supernatural to make for an enjoyable evening.
- rg940031 October 2025This was the last movie I had to watch from the Science of Scare list which ranks horror moves based on viewer heart rates and heart rate variance. This movie was ranked first, above every other entry in the list. This is actually my second time watching the movie. I don't remember much from my first watch outside of hating the ending, and I had rated it 5/10. This time, I went in with an open mind and let it wash over me, watching it in the dark and fully paying attention. This is a scary movie. A very scary movie. There are a lot of jump scares, some of which really made my heart pound. However, the real scares come from the quieter moments. The sequences where the audio isn't building up to a crescendo like the traditional horror movie trope. In fact, there is one sequence where he is just walking around his house in silence, brilliantly filmed and really effective at creating atmosphere. I was literally jumping at shadows, thinking there where things in wide shots that did not exist. There is this muted soundtrack with garbled children voices that plays during certain scenes that by itself is super creepy and distinctive. It also just has some really unsettling and upsetting subject matter. I can confirm that my heart rate was much higher than when I had watched a lot of the other movies on the list. I also just have to admire the technical craft of the movie. The imagery is memorable, and it doesn't rely on shaky cameras. Even if there is home footage, it isn't overly aged and instead moves slowly, deliberately, smoothly. There isn't an over-reliance on gore, yet it still feels a lot more violent than some of the bloodier movies. With effective jump scares, a heightened atmosphere, and a lingering impact, it really hits multiple checkboxes in terms of horror. Look, I still hate the ending. It is abrupt and jarring. While I get what it is doing thematically, it also feels like it doesn't land the message. Outside of Ethan Hawke's character, everyone else is basically a cardboard cutout, and had we gotten more time with the characters, maybe the ending would have worked better. The plot isn't super dynamic. These are all valid complaints, and I am sure that was my focus in my initial watch. However, if you are looking for a fright fest, this is about as good as it gets.
- halla39727 October 2025The storyline is so uniquely different which sits on its own so well. It’s super creepy in so many aspects.
- Alex25 October 2025OMG, this movie is soooo bad. The story isn't bad it just feels like the jump scares are written by a 12 year old. Not scary at all. If anybody have this movie in their list as a good scare...don't waste your time with the list.
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Sinister Trivia
Sinister was released on 5 October 2012.
Sinister was directed by Scott Derrickson.
Sinister has a runtime of 1h 50m.
Sinister was produced by Jason Blum, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones.
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.
The key characters in Sinister are Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), Tracy Oswalt (Juliet Rylance), Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio).
Sinister is rated 15.
Sinister is a Horror, Thriller, Mystery film.
Sinister has an audience rating of 6.2 out of 10.
Sinister had a budget of US$3M.
Sinister has made US$82.5M at the box office.