Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone and Nicholas King
What It’s About: A true-crime author investigates the chilling murders of numerous families that turn out to be by the hand of a malevolent deity.
Rated R (for disturbing violent images and some terror)
Runtime: 110 minutes
By Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
On October 21, 2009, I attended a late night showing of Paranormal Activity in a packed theater of eager patrons ready for what people declared as “one of the scariest movies of all time.” What transpired in those 89 minutes disproved every last one of my condescending perceptions towards the horror genre. Ever since that eventful night I have scoured through the entire horror genre for a film that could even match the invocation of fear and dread produced by that movie. Now, after a half decade of searching, I can proudly say that Sinister is that film.
Sinister is about a true-crime novelist named Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) who, after the flatlining of his writing career, moves his family into a house that was the scene of the grisly murder of the previous owners in search of a new story for his next novel. While in the process of moving boxes into the attic of the house, Oswalt comes across a box of Super 8 home movies, which naturally draws his attention. Once his family settles in, Oswalt (and the audience) proceeds to watch said films and discovers that they are actually an anthology of ritualistic executions spanning as far back as the 1960s. As he re-watches the movies, he begins to see an ominous figure in each film reel who just happens to be a Babylonian deity Bughuul (Nicholas King), a demon who actually lives in the films themselves. From here the film becomes an enthralling suspense thriller investigating why the pattern of murders occurred the way they did and who filmed the grisly executions.
Sinister is a rather unique horror film in that the quality of the film as a whole is so high all round that it could exist as solely a thriller or solely family drama. Movie-blogger turned screenwriter C. Robert Cargill and director Scott Derrickson created a dynamic and realistic protagonist, something unheard of in contemporary horror.
Ellison Oswalt is not the stereotypical stubborn husband who foolishly puts his family in the line of fire. Oswalt truly cares about his family: he is always there for his two children and is a good husband to his wife. His only inherent vice is his obsession to find inspiration for his new book, even if it means withholding evidence from local authorities or moving his family to a crime site.
Sinister displays some of the most memory-scarring, disturbing imagery in recent memory. The eerie opening shot of a family of four being hanged from a tree is only the first of several instances. The majority of the horrific images come from the five home movies, which, as I mentioned earlier, depict uniquely different group murders committed by an unseen assailant holding the camera. I will not disclose the contents of these tapes, but I will say that one in particular had the entire theater in a state of perpetual shock.
The tapes themselves would not be as effective if it were not for Christopher Young’s sinister (pun intended) sound design. The soundtrack is reminiscent of the ambient scores of 70s horror films such as The Shining: twisting metal, pig squeals, demonic speech, children whispering, thumping techno beats, awkward rhymes, etc. The soundtrack seamlessly intertwines between the Super 8 footage and the real-time action, blurring the horror of the snuff films and the horror of the actual film.
Bughuul, the demon behind the chaos, while scary in appearance, quickly loses his effect when used for cheap jump-scares like turning to look at Oswalt from a picture on a computer monitor or swinging into frame for a jump scare.
Not since the first Paranormal Activity have I felt so uncomfortable in a movie theater; however, what keeps Sinister from surpassing the former film is its rushed ending. I will not spoil the ending here, but I will say that it discredits the suspense built throughout the rest of the movie.
Sinister, despite its few faults, is, as of now, the second scariest film of the decade.
8/10
Courtesy of www.aceshowbiz.com, 2.bp.blogspot.com and jaymckinnon.com