Sinister's Bughuul originally looked like the Babadook - until the internet provided a different solution

Cargill has said in the past that 'Sinister' was inspired by a nightmare he had after watching 'The Ring' - which is why the movies share the same creepy gimmick of movies cursed:

"I was climbing up in my attic when I saw a box of Super 8 films and a projector. I looped the first film and it was the opening image of 'Sinister'. This nightmare stuck with me for a while and eventually I realized this could make a really good horror movie."

The scene recreating this nightmare was surely terrifying. But to make a film, you need more than a scene, you need a story. That's what baffled Cargill explaining who would make these snuff in the movie, especially since he thought, "You've got to have an answer that's better than what's in your head. audience." He eventually imagined it to be a missing child from each murdered family, but then he needed a motive for the children. It was then that he came up with the idea of ​​a supernatural influence.

At the start of "Sinister", Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) discovers five Super 8 snuff films. While reviewing them for his book on the murders, he discovers a brief appearance by Bughuul in each. It culminates in a genre-defying twist: "Sinister" isn't a haunted house story. Bughuul's footage is gateways from his realm to the mortal and is why he forces children to film the murders; with each new film, its influence expands.

Once Cargill had an idea for their villain, they had to flesh out the details, both in design and in story.