2012 was a very strong year for movies. While that's great for us, the audience, it can also prove to be a bit of a dilemma. There are too many movies to see and not enough time. However, every year provides us with movies that don't get enough respect, and whose reputations aren't forged until a later date. Some classic examples of this would be The Shining, which was panned by many critics on release in 1980, and was not recognized as a masterpiece until years later and The Thing, directed by John Carpenter in 1982, was considered a flop on its initial release, though it found a new life on video release, and eventually gained it's current status as a classic, and possibly Carpenter's best film. While I'm not aiming to pick a full list of future classics on the level of The Shining or The Thing, I'm going to pick 10 movies whose reputations may grow as time goes on. On with the list...
10. Sinister
To horror fans like myself, this may not necessarily be an overlooked movie. The reason this movie makes the list is simply because I don't know many other people who have seen it, yet. It's an under-the-radar original horror. It takes the old-school, haunted house approach and combines it with the found footage genre. Ethan Hawke plays a (somewhat) alcoholic true-crime writer who's looking for his new big hit. That plot will sound familiar to anybody who's read a Stephen King book, but those who stick with it will be rewarded. Upon discovering tapes in his new home (the site of a murder) we begin to dive into the gruesome world of serial murders. What this movie does fantastically well is keep realism in play for a long stretch. Are we witnessing the supernatural, or is this all too real? I found myself wondering which option would me more disturbing as I watched, and it was the first time I was legitimately scared by a movie in many years. This film will chill you. However, in the final third, it fell apart for me, but this won't stop this movie gaining it's reputation as time passes. It's strikingly original and well directed, in an era where too many horror movies are remakes and cliched. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgYxydrVlDk