What actually happens
A true crime writer who skipped a talk with his wife
Ellison Oswalt is a true crime writer who has not matched the success of his first book, which helped solve a case. He moves his family to a house in Chatsford, Pennsylvania, and his wife Tracy does not know that the Stevenson family was hanged there. Ellison plans to research the murders and the disappearance of the Stevensons' youngest child, Stephanie. In the attic he finds a box holding a scorpion, a projector and some reels marked as home movies. The footage shows families being killed in different ways, including drowning and fire, apparently by whoever holds the camera. Ellison thinks about handing the reels to the police but keeps them. He spots a cult symbol and a strange figure in the films, and matches one reel to the 1998 murder of the Miller family and the disappearance of their thirteen-year-old son, Christopher.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
A deputy with a nickname and a professor with a god
Ellison checks on noises in the attic and finds a king snake and some drawings of the killings by a child, which feature a figure called Mr. Boogie. Then he falls through the ceiling, and the emergency crew includes an enthusiastic deputy who happily agrees to help. Later a Rottweiler turns up in the garden and runs off. The deputy tells him the murders happened in different cities at different times, with one child missing from every family, and that the Stevensons had lived in the Millers' former house. Ellison asks an occult expert, Professor Jonas, about the symbol, and Jonas links it to Bughuul, a Babylonian god who lures children into his realm and eats their souls. Jonas thinks the killings are part of a cult initiation rite, so he doubts there is a single murderer.
Moving back home, where the reels are already waiting
Ellison's children, Trevor and Ashley, start acting strangely as ghost children begin to haunt the house, and Ashley paints Stephanie on the walls. Tracy is furious, because Ellison moved them into a crime scene without telling her. One night Bughuul shows up in front of Ellison as he watches the films. Ellison smashes the camera, the projector and the reels, and takes the family back to their previous house. Jonas sends him pictures connected to Bughuul, including the symbol and a scorpion, a snake and a dog, and explains an old belief among early Christians: pictures of Bughuul can summon him, and he takes over any child who looks at one. Ellison then finds the projector and reels undamaged, plus a new reel titled Extended Cut Endings.
Extended cut, with the whole family
The deputy points out a pattern: each family was killed after moving into the house that the last victims had fled. Ellison watches the new footage, which shows the missing children walking into the frame after each murder, so they were the ones who killed their own families under Bughuul's influence. Ellison passes out, because Ashley spiked his coffee. He wakes up with Tracy and Trevor, all three bound and gagged. This is the scene to brace for, and it comes at the very end. Ashley tells Ellison she is going to make him famous again, and then she kills them with an axe and mixes their blood into a portrait of Bughuul on the walls.
The ending, explained
Ellison, Tracy and Trevor are bound and gagged when Ashley kills all three with an axe. She paints Bughuul's face across the walls in their blood and doodles their bodies on top of the box that held the reels, while the projector plays footage of what she did. Bughuul then appears and consumes Ashley's soul. The pattern from the reels has finished with the Oswalt family.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, and the Rottweiler that shows up in the garden runs off.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Sinister scary?
Yes. Sinister is a 7 out of 10 with high dread: a bleak haunting with loud jump scares and disturbing home-movie footage.
How does Sinister end?
Ashley, under Bughuul's influence, kills Ellison, Tracy and Trevor with an axe, and Bughuul takes her soul. Sinister ends on that bleak note.
Does the dog die in Sinister?
No dog dies in Sinister. A Rottweiler turns up in the garden and runs off, and the only animal harmed is a scorpion that Ellison drops a box on.
Is there a post-credits scene in Sinister?
No. Sinister has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is Bughuul in Sinister?
Bughuul is a Babylonian god, also called Mr. Boogie, who draws children into his world and consumes their souls. In Sinister, Professor Jonas says he is summoned through artwork and possesses children who see it.
