Meet Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), an author of true-crime novels who, despite his best efforts, hasn't been able to produce a bestseller for the better part of a decade. Believing he's found the story that will provide his next big hit, Ellison uproots his family and moves into a house in rural Pennsylvania where an entire family ― save one child that seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet ― was found dead in the backyard.
As he starts his research into the tragedy that befell the house's previous owners, Ellison finds a box of old Super 8 film reels in the attic. The seemingly innocuous titles scrawled on each one lead him to initially believe that they're just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill home movies. But Ellison is horrified to learn that the movies are footage of numerous families being brutally murdered, including the family he's writing about. You read it right, folks; Ellison just stumbled onto a big box of snuff films.
As he watches and re-watches the movies, Ellison starts noticing that certain elements of each one are oddly similar. Each murder scene had a particular sigil painted somewhere nearby, and a child from all of the families vanished. And at the center of this mystery is a strange, demonic-looking figure that appears in all of the movies. What Ellison first thought was a serial killer is soon revealed to be a supernatural force that, as the matter is investigated further, puts Ellison and his family in jeopardy.
If you've seen any of the trailers or TV commercials for Sinister, then you've had some of the mystery and a few really good scares ruined for you. But the weird thing is that the movie is so damn effective that even the stuff that you know is about to happen can still terrify you. Sinister is, without question, one of the scariest movies I've seen in a while. Beyond the tried and true "boo!" scares, the movie is filled with such a sense of menace and dread that you always have the feeling that something evil is lurking around the corner. And even if it doesn't strike, the sheer knowledge that it's there is enough.
It helps that the movie was directed by Scott Derrickson, who helmed the absolutely stellar Exorcism of Emily Rose back in 2005. This particular trip to the supernatural marks Derrickson's return to the horror genre after his short layover into science fiction with the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and he hits a grand slam with Sinister. Very few of the scares feel cheap, and Derrickson really goes out of his way to build up the prevalent feeling that the monster is lurking just out of sight, ready to pounce without warning. Derrickson pulls out all the stops in an effort to terrorize the audience, utilizing some amazing sound design, haunting music (both composer Christopher Young's score and the songs contributed by various avant-garde, experimental bands), and creepy cinematography to craft this excellent slice of horror.
But for all the scares during the movie, the most frightening parts are the Super 8 movies. Those things are freaking terrifying! Between the authentic look and the spooky music, these scenes are really uncomfortable to watch. I'm getting the shivers just thinking about them. And the fact that the videos are given seemingly innocuous yet darkly ironic names (footage of a drowning is labeled "Pool Party '66," an arson is "BBQ '79," and so on) makes things even worse. The only thing scarier than a demon orchestrating a series of murders is when the monster enjoys irony too.
I will say, though, that I thought the screenplay penned by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill was a little give or take. It's mainly due to the severe lack of character development. Outside of the lead character, there is precious little forward movement for anybody in the movie. The kids disappear halfway through the movie, Ellison's wife never gets beyond "doting yet upset with her husband's emotional distance," and two characters are in there strictly to deliver exposition and nothing more. It honestly feels like there was a ton of character-establishing moments edited out of the movie to keep it under two hours.
Despite that flaw, Derrickson and Cargill still wrote one heck of a scary movie. Yeah, a lot of it was spoiled by that damnable advertising campaign. But the writers (with plenty of assistance from Derrickson's direction) still manage to pull you in and make you wonder just what's going to happen next. Considering that it's Cargill's first credited movie, the fact that it was this successful, lack of character development notwithstanding, is pretty impressive.
And last but not least is the cast, who turn in decent performances across the board. I especially liked James Ransone as a local cop who looks into the source of the Super 8 movies for Ellison, and I thought Vincent D'Onofrio and Fred Dalton Thompson were great despite having what amounted to extended cameos. But Ethan Hawke absolutely owns the movie. The character is a bit of a selfish dick with no qualms about alienating his wife and children if it means regaining his past fame, and Hawke makes it believable. He plays the role in such a way that you'd totally buy why he'd be so fascinated with the case he's studying. And as the movie progresses, Hawke effortlessly conveys just how much his sanity has been affected. He's constantly jittery and stressed out, almost always holding a glass full of booze to try and calm his frayed nerves. If it were me, I'd probably be the same way.
As you've probably guessed by now, I really dug Sinister. It's a truly frightening movie that values suspense and atmosphere just as much as jump scares. And with Halloween right around the corner, now is the perfect time for a movie like this. It's well worth the effort to head out and see theatrically. So please do yourself a favor and go check out Sinister if you're even remotely interested in horror movies. I wish more scary movies were like this, because the genre could use them.
Final Rating: ****
1 comment:
Nick king was awesome in this
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