Sinister (2012) Review – Revisiting The Super 8 Nightmare

Welcome to Knockout Horror. It’s day 13 of our 31 Days of Halloween 2026 feature and today we are catching up on a movie that a lot of people really like – Sinister (2012). I remember watching this movie back on release and really not being all that impressed by it. The big question now is whether or not a rewatch changed my opinion? Let’s take a look.

A Surprise Horror Hit

Sinister is one of a few really successful mainstream horror titles that released during a short period of time back in the early 2010s. In fact, the ripples of that horror wave are still being felt today. Titles like Insidious, The Purge, and The Conjuring are still seeing new releases well into the 2020s.

The thing that I find really interesting about that brief period of horror is Hollywood’s desire to, not only, revisit ideas from the past like haunted house and supernatural horror, but also to explore concepts that were just a little bit nasty and different.

There’s this very short overlap during this era where mainstream films could feel, almost, like indie films.

Titles like The Last Exorcism, Black Swan, You’re Next, and The Cabin in the Woods really stand out for how experimental and unique they felt. Sinister is another great example of a studio releasing a film that was genuinely quite daring.

Directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson along with C. Robert Cargill, the story follows the controversial true-crime author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) as he moves his family into a new home.

Looking for inspiration for his next book, Ellison finds a box of Super 8 tapes that suggest the case he is currently working on may actually be the work of a serial killer. The only question is, can he find the link without being dragged deep into something he can’t control?

A compelling mystery

At its heart, Sinister is a mystery horror movie that explores a series of seemingly connected murders. Ellison Oswalt made his name by releasing a book which basically solved a murder cold case. This offered him 15 minutes of fame and, ever since then, he has been chasing that high.

“The actual investigative parts of the story are where the intrigue really lies and the majority of those scenes are really well executed.”

He recently moved onto a brand new case that he thoroughly believes could be his next jackpot. The only problem is, he has to subject himself to numerous Super 8 home movies of violent killings and piece together the puzzle to actually find the connection between them.

The majority of the movie plays out as something of a crime drama as Oswalt gets deeper and deeper into the reeds when it comes to the killings he is witnessing. He watches a video, finds a connection, and attempts to link them together and the viewer comes along for the ride.

The mystery deepens quite a bit when he enlists the help of Deputy “So & So” (James Ransone) as his access to information expands. Everything starts to seem a lot less like coincidence and the atmosphere only darkens. It’s compelling stuff.

The domestic stuff detracts from the good parts

The further Oswalt dives into the mystery at hand, the worse his home life becomes. He’s obviously been hiding things from his wife, and his absolute persistence when it comes to finding the truth causes problems for everyone around him.

Now, being perfectly honest, I’m not particularly interested in the whole domestic drama stuff, here.

I feel like this type of side-plot gets in the way a fair bit when its not a pivotal part of the story, and that’s definitely the case here. Oswalt’s arguments with his wife, along with his child having nightmares, are little more than an unwanted distraction from the interesting stuff.

It comes across as a vain attempt to pad out an already overly long story and each moment of escalation arrives to diminishing returns.

I’ll be honest, it will tie in quite strongly later on, but probably not in the way you think. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the big reveal would have been more weighty had we not spent so much time watching the family fall apart.

The actual investigative parts of the story are where the intrigue really lies and the majority of those scenes are really well executed. We don’t need arguments and family drama to make it work. We also don’t need it to understand that Oswalt is quite a troubled person in his own right.

One scene involving a swimming pool and another involving a lawnmower are among the most wince-inducing I have seen in mainstream horror.”

The more he uncovers, the more disturbed he becomes and his obsessive drive for fame and notoriety is abundantly clear purely through the disturbing things he is willing to endure to finish this story. Ethan Hawke is on top form here and does a fantastic job of portraying the dark complexity of his character.

It’s really quite nasty

From a horror perspective, there’s quite a lot of supernatural stuff that is fairly rote but still quite effective. Many of these scenes are portrayed in an almost dreamlike manner to blur the lines between whether or not they are really happening. Oswalt wanders out into the garden and sees strange apparitions, he hears noises from the attic, that type of stuff.

The real horror, however, comes from the Super 8 videos that he watches.

These are particularly nasty with some genuinely memorable moments. I won’t go into too much detail, but there is a definite vibe of the authentic about them that really makes them stand out. It’s quite reminiscent of the 1999 movie 8mm in that respect.

The grainy quality combined with the lack of sound and genuinely visceral nature of the violence is bound to stick with you. Again, I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say that one scene involving a swimming pool and another involving a lawnmower are among the most wince-inducing I have seen in mainstream horror.

Without these scenes, Sinister would feel like a fairly generic horror. They do a really nice job of heightening the tension and adding a visceral shot of nastiness that elevates the movie, as a whole.

Special mention absolutely has to go to Christopher Young’s score, here, as well. It’s fairly typical for the most part but the soundtrack for the Super 8 videos is absolutely fantastic. It really adds to the haunting nature of the tapes.

It does have significant flaws

There are quite a few problems, here. The most noteworthy of which might be the jump scares. This is a movie that is very “of its era”, and there are a lot of jump scares littered throughout. A few of them are of the “screamer” variety, too, which is more than a little annoying.

“This is a much better movie the less you know and the less director Scott Derrickson allows you see.”

Honestly, none of them are that effective and almost all of them feel completely unnecessary. When you have movies like Insidious and The Conjuring knocking it out of the park with their well-timed jumps, Sinister just feels a bit second-rate.

I feel as though the ultimate reveal from the overriding mystery is fairly underwhelming. The writers eschewed an actual crime-based explanation to venture into the supernatural and it all feels far too familiar. This is a much better movie the less you know and the less director Scott Derrickson allows you see.

The ending is a bit of a let down, as well, thanks to an unwelcome pivot into occultism. It’s nice to see a mainstream horror attempt something genuinely bleak, but it just doesn’t work all that well. It feels very anticlimactic and a poor pay-off for a very protracted buildup.

Sinister also falls foul of some fairly common horror tropes. Illogical story progression, stupid character actions, narrative leaps, and the like. With that being said, this is still a very enjoyable movie. It’s compelling early on, features a fantastic lead performance from Ethan Hawke, and is suitably nasty. Just don’t expect perfection and you should enjoy yourself.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.