The 2012 supernatural horror film Sinister was actually initially inspired by the cursed videotape in the 2002 horror movie The Ring. Sinister, directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson, centers on a true-crime writer named Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), who moves his family into a home where another family had been murdered in the past. Oswalt intends to use this family's story as the basis for a new book, hoping to uncover the mystery of what happened to one of the daughters of the family, Stephanie.
After Oswalt comes across a box of Super 8 home movies and a projector in the attic of the house, he sets up the dusty old projector and watches the footage. The footage, he discovers, depicts the grisly murders of various different families. Each of the murders is performed by the person who is holding the camera, who goes unseen. By watching this terrifying footage, Oswalt unknowingly puts his entire family in danger. Of course, strange things begin to happen in the Oswalt household as the writer researches, investigates, and learns more details about the murders. Eventually, Oswalt uncovers strange symbols, and finds that the ancient pagan deity Bughuul—dubbed "Mr. Boogie"—was behind the murders.
Making the movie even more horrifying, it turns out that the scary elements behind Sinister were inspired by a nightmare that Derrickson's co-writer, C. Robert Cargill, had in real life. It happened after he watched The Ring. In The Ring, a journalist played by Naomi Watts investigates a cursed videotape that apparently kills the viewer seven days after they watch it. Cargill has stated that, after he watched the movie The Ring for the first time, he had a nightmare in which he found mysterious films sitting in his attic. The footage, he said, depicted the hanging of an entire family. Of course, this scenario became the backbone of the plot of Sinister; part of the murder footage Oswalt uncovers and watches includes people being hanged.
The Ring clearly inspired Sinister in other ways, too. While the two are very different horror movies, they have a lot in common as well. The Ring - which notably sparked a slew of other English-language remakes of prominent Asian horror movies, such as The Grudge - presented U.S. audiences with a newfound kind of "scary," marked by elements that were extremely different than the mainstream horror flicks they were used to. The plot - and the way in which it unravels - is wholly original. Perhaps this element encouraged the Sinister filmmakers to make their own movie as unique and original as possible. For instance, they shot the Super 8 footage Oswalt finds on actual Super 8 cameras and film stock. Plus, the story of Sinister is certainly unique. Also, plot-wise, Sinister takes a note from The Ring in focusing on a creepy and unpredictable story rather than relying solely on jump scares, which has been a critique of some American remakes of Asian horror movies, and Asian horror movies alike.
The Ring, upon its release, left a major impact on the horror movie genre. Likewise, it's worth mentioning that Sinister has been hailed by science as the scariest movie ever. It's certainly interesting that both movies share aesthetic elements and the notion of a cursed videotape. It's a good thing Cargill had that nightmare after he watched The Ring, otherwise Sinister, which has garnered a large fan base over the years, would not even exist.