One of the worst kept secrets at SXSW this year was the “surprise” screening of director Scott Derrickson’s Sinister, thanks to The Hollywood Reporter leaking the news before the screening. However, the movie itself still managed to deliver with some surprises. For one, this isn’t a found-footage movie, but, as Kate Erbland describes it in her positive review, “the found footage conceit is instead used as a source of information and scares, a clever little bit of storytelling that delivers the creeps with ease.” That’s a suitable way of describing Sinister. The movie has its scares, but many of them only hit you after the credits roll.
This first trailer does almost too good a job of selling Derrickson’s restrained horror story, considering it gives away a handful of Sinister’s finest moments. If you want to go into Sinister unspoiled, stop watching this at the 1:15 mark.
Check out the trailer below.
The most disappointing part of this trailer is how it doesn’t sell the film’s strongest message: If you try to sell out as a writer, Vincent D’Onofrio will enter your life, and things will only get worse from there.
Sinister opens on October 5th [Bloody-Disgusting].
