Sinister

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “It's all done in questionable taste, mucking around in the nasty terrain of snuff films and children in constant peril, but Sinister is smart and well-crafted, and it scarcely gives the audience a moment to breathe.”

  Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club · 83

• “The scares are not just intense but unyielding in this compelling horror yarn from "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" director Scott Derrickson.”

  Peter Debruge, Variety · 80

• “Hawke's taut performance - lightly parodying his own career doldrums while playing an egotistical hack who's a close cousin of John Cassavetes's self-loathing actor in Rosemary's Baby - is totally credible.”

  Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice · 80

• “Rather than another drearily workaday horror picture, Sinister uses the supernatural to underline its examination of the all-too-human foibles of insecurity and myopic self-centeredness. As the best horror stories so often do, Sinister makes clear that we are our own boogeymen, the worst monsters of all.”

  Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times · 80

• “Now this is a scary movie. And, given that it's a horror film, that means it's a good one. [18 Oct 2012]”

  Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic · 80