This Day in Horror History: SINISTER Opened in 2012
On this day in horror history, director Scott Derrickson’s supernatural fright flick Sinister with Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio hit theaters in 2012.
Directed and co-written by Derrickson (Doctor Strange), the film stars Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Thompson, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Sinister began shooting in Autumn 2011 with a budget of $3M. The old home movies and snuff films were shot on actual Super 8 cameras and film stock.
The film premiered at the SXSW festival and was a box office success, snagging $87.7M on its above-mention budget of $3M. The film’s success spawned a sequel, Sinister 2 with James Ransone and Shannyn Sossamon on August 21, 2015.
Inspired by a nightmare co-writer C. Robert Cargill had after watching The Ring, the film tells the tale of true-crime writer Ellison Oswald who is in a slump; he hasn’t had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves his own family into the victims’ home and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues hint at a supernatural presence, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal.
Rated R for some terror and disturbing violent images, the film sports a 63% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: Its plot hinges on typically implausible horror-movie behavior and recycles countless genre cliches, but Sinister delivers a surprising number of fresh, diabolical twists.
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