The first trailer for director Scott Derrickson’s new horror film Sinister has been released.  The film stars Ethan Hawke as a true crime novelist who moves his family into a house where the horrific murder of an entire family took place, in an effort to discover his next big story.  When he finds a box of home videos in which other families are also brutally murdered, he realizes he may have made a huge mistake by moving into the house.  The trailer is a bit heavy handed when it comes to exposition, as characters state flat-out what everything means (“That’s the family that used to live here!” “That symbol is obviously a pagan demon who feeds on children’s souls!”).  That said, there look to be some genuinely terrifying scares and as a fan of Derrickson’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose, I’m game to check out what he has in store with Sinister.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Vincent D’Onofrio and James Ransone. Sinister opens on August 24th.

Here’s the synopsis for Sinister:

A true crime novelist (Ethan Hawke) struggling to find his next big story, moves his family into a house where the horrific murder of an entire family took place.  But after finding a box of home videos in which other families are also brutally murdered, his investigation leads him to a supernatural entity that may be placing his own family in harm’s way.