Sinister
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: October 12, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasOct 10, 2012
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. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 23, 2012
Now this is a scary movie. And, given that it's a horror film, that means it's a good one. [18 Oct 2012]
80
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenOct 11, 2012
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. Read full review
80
Village VoiceNick PinkertonOct 9, 2012
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. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 22, 2012
The scares are not just intense but unyielding in this compelling horror yarn from "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" director Scott Derrickson. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonOct 12, 2012
It comes together with a gruesome though excellent ending that some will find difficult to shake. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 11, 2012
Even though the ending is inescapable (and therefore predictable), that does little to diminish its effectiveness. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOct 10, 2012
And then there is Vincent D'Onofrio, as a university professor of the occult and mythological, who opens up a line of possibility that eventually saves the ending from being a red herring. Yes, the ending is horrifying, but I don't believe in that stuff. I'm pretty sure I don't. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanOct 10, 2012
I knew perfectly well, after a while, what Sinister was going to scare me with. But I got scared anyway. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnSep 22, 2012
The movie makes up for uneven dialogue and pacing issues through sheer horrific imagery. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeOct 10, 2012
Occasionally stupid (stretching even fright-flick conventions) but scary nonetheless, the picture should please horror fans. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisOct 11, 2012
The clichés are still clichés. They've just been renovated. Read full review
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