About this movie:

sinister is a 2012 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill and Derrickson. It stars Ethan Hawke as a struggling true-crime writer whose discovery of videos depicting grisly murders in his new house puts his family in danger. Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, and Michael Hall D'Addario appear in supporting roles.

Sinister was inspired by a nightmare Cargill had after watching the 2002 film The Ring.^[6] Principal photography on Sinister began in Autumn of 2011 in Long Island, NY with a production budget of $3 million.^[4] To add to the authenticity of old home movies and snuff films, the Super 8 segments were shot on actual Super 8 cameras and film stock.^[7] The film was a co-production between the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

The film premiered at the SXSW festival on March 10, 2012.^[8] It was released in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2012, and in the United States on October 12. Sinister was praised by critics for its acting, direction, cinematography, and atmosphere, but received criticism for its use of jump scares and other horror clichés. The film was a box office success, grossing $87.7 million against its budget of $3 million.^[5] In the years since its release, the film has developed a reputation for its scariness and became a cult classic. A 2020 study by Broadband Choices named Sinister the scariest film ever made based on an analysis of viewer heart rates.

A sequel was released in 2015.