Sinister

The curtain rises on a haunting tableau, captured in Super 8 footage: a family of four stands beneath the branches of a tree, their hoods drawn over their heads like shrouds, nooses cinched around their necks. The unseen hand of fate saws through a limb, causing the counterweight to release its hold, and the family's collective weight is precipitated towards eternity.

Months later, washed-up true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves his family into the very same home where this gruesome tableau took place. His wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance), and their children, Ashley (Clare Foley), a gifted artist with an artistic license to create on her walls, and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario), plagued by nightmarish visions of terror upon entering the house. Only Ellison is aware of the dark history that permeates these walls.

As he settles into his new surroundings, Ellison's eyes are fixed on the prospect of crafting a new book around the murders that transpired here. He hopes to uncover the fate of Stephanie, the young girl who vanished in the wake of this tragedy. Unbeknownst to his family, Ellison is driven by a morbid fascination with the crime scene, seeking answers within its crumbling walls.

While exploring the attic, Ellison stumbles upon an old box containing a projector and several reels of Standard 8 mm footage, each labeled as innocuous home movies. However, as he watches these films, he discovers that they depict families being brutally slaughtered in various ways: their throats slit while asleep (Sleepy Time '98), consumed by flames in a car (BBQ '79), drowned in their own pool (Pool Party '66), or run over by a lawn mower (Lawn Work '86). The hanging scene that opened the film is merely one of many, each one revealing a gruesome tableau of family destruction.

One particular film proves especially unsettling for Ellison, as he notices a demonic figure lurking at the bottom of the pool, watching with an unblinking gaze as the family drowns. This same figure appears in every film, its presence accompanied by a strange painted symbol that seems to hold some dark significance. Upon inspecting the box's lid, Ellison discovers crude drawings depicting each murder, along with illustrations of this malevolent entity, known only as "Mr. Boogie."

As Ellison (James Ransone) delves deeper into the mystery, he consults a local deputy who reveals that the gruesome murders depicted in the films took place across different cities and time periods, spanning from the 1960s onwards. The deputy's investigation uncovers a chilling pattern: each family was drugged before being brutally killed, and every murder was followed by the disappearance of a child. The deputy points Ellison towards a local expert, Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), who specializes in the occult and demonic phenomena. Jonas deciphers the symbol in the films as that of Bughuul, a pagan deity who slaughters entire families to claim their children's souls.

One fateful night, Ellison becomes aware of the film projector running and ventures upstairs to the attic, where he stumbles upon the missing children in various states of decay, entranced by one of the disturbing films. Suddenly, Bughuul materializes on screen, then appears before Ellison in all his malevolent glory. In a desperate bid to break the curse, Ellison seizes the camera and films, destroying them in a fiery blaze. He then awakens his family and announces their imminent departure from their current residence.

Upon returning to their old home, Ellison receives a cryptic message from Professor Jonas, who dispatches scans of ancient drawings associated with Bughuul. These fragments had been partially destroyed by ancient cultures who believed that the deity's essence resided within the images, serving as portals between his realm and our world. As Ellison explores the house, he discovers the projector and films in the attic, along with a new package labeled "extended endings." The deputy continues to attempt contact, but Ellison remains evasive.

The next time the deputy calls, Ellison answers, only to be informed that the murders are linked by a sinister thread: each family had previously resided in the house where the last murder took place, with every new slaughter occurring shortly after their relocation. By returning to his old home, Ellison has unwittingly placed himself and his family at the forefront of Bughuul's next victim pool.

As Ellison (actor name) scrutinizes the grainy footage, he stumbles upon a gruesome revelation: each murder is preceded by the sudden appearance of the missing children on screen, their faces twisted with malevolence as they revel in the carnage. The scene shifts and blurs, like a fever dream, before Ellison's own world begins to unravel. His coffee cup, once a comforting symbol of routine, now holds a sinister message scrawled on the inside: "Good Night Daddy." A viscous green liquid swirls within, its texture as unsettling as the words themselves. As he struggles to make sense of this new reality, Ellison's vision blurs, and he succumbs to an eerie, dreamlike state.

The world awakens anew, but not for Ellison's family. Ashley (actor name), his wife, emerges from the shadows, her eyes gleaming with a manic intensity as she promises to resurrect her husband's flagging career. Her words are laced with malice, however, and soon enough, the air is filled with the sickening sound of axe blows striking flesh. The walls run red as Ashley paints a grotesque mural of felines, canines, and mythical creatures, each stroke imbued with an unholy glee.

When her gruesome canvas is complete, Ashley adds a final flourish to the box lid: a drawing of "Mr. Boogie," that most unsettling of entities. She then fast-forwards through a Super-8 film reel, reliving the horrors she has unleashed upon her own family. As the footage reaches its climax, the missing children reappear on screen, their faces frozen in terror as they watch Ashley's bloody work unfold.

It is at this moment that Bughuul (actor name) materializes, his hands slick with green-stained blood. The children flee in terror as he scoops up Ashley and vanishes into the film reel, leaving behind only the faintest hint of a malevolent presence.

The film concludes on a haunting note: Ellison's family box now bears an ominous new label - "House Painting '12." And then, without warning, Bughuul reappears, his eyes glinting with sadistic intent as he warns us all: we are next. The camera lingers on the box, its contents now a dark portent of the horrors that lie in store for anyone who dares to gaze upon them.