Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates, Review | Tagged: c robert cargill, ethan hawke, horror, scott derrickson, sinister

Sinister – The Bleeding Cool Review

Scott Derrickson's Sinister debuted at Frightfest earlier this year, and since then has already gained something of a reputation as one of the most unforgivingly terrifying films of the year. The screening to which Bleeding Cool was invited was being filmed as part of a "psychological experiment on the effects of watching horror movies", with several audience members hooked up to wires and electrodes in order to monitor how sweaty and excited they were. So, does Sinister live up to this hype?

The film follows the family life and career of a non-fiction crime writer called Ellison, who broke into relative fame in his younger days with a book that uncovered facts about a murder that the local police force had missed, thereby securing justice for the perpetrator. After several failed follow-ups, Ellison is determined to solve a brutal multiple murder and, unbeknowst to his wife, moves his entire family into the house where the murders took place in order to better conduct his research. Almost immediately he finds a box of old Super 8 "home movies" in the attic, which actually contain footage of increasingly brutal and horrifying murders that have taken place over the years. This is one gift horse that Ellison should almost definitely look in the child-chomping mouth, but instead he sees the films as the key to making his comeback.

From the synopsis, it's easy to expect a haunted house tale reminiscent of The Amityville Horror or perhaps The Shining from Sinister, but in fact the closest point of comparison for the film is probably online series Marble Hornets – a no-budget, DV-shot found footage soap opera based on a Something Awful-born urban legend. Like Marble Hornets, Sinister gives only the smallest fractal glimpses of its monster: just enough to make you want to draw all the curtains in your house at night and, if possible, start sleeping in your closet with the door barricaded.

Sinister is mercilessly, sadistically frightening, the kind of film that greedy heirs might show their frail-hearted elderly relatives if they wanted to pull off the perfect murder. The jump scares are hit and miss, since every carefully constructed and perfectly executed jump has an evil twin in the form of a lazy door slam or random bump in the attic. Most of the fear factor, however, cames from the glimpses of the monster, which are just enough to make you very certain that you don't want to see it any closer up, from the oppressiveness of the setting (the film takes place mostly at night), and from the steady ratcheting of tension as more and more is revealed about the previous murders. It would be fair to say that the jump scares are employed as a crutch, but only in the sense that they're used to beat you further when you're already a quivering heap on the floor. One of these scares in particular had me literally about to leave the theatre for good until I remembered that professional obligation required me to stay.

Judging horror films is a tricky beast, since for pure scare value Sinister is near-perfect, but outside of the monsters and murdered children it's not a particularly outstanding drama. Ethan Hawke provides a convincing portrayal of a man making terrible decisions out of a hunger for the fame and success that he once had, but the family interactions and arguments often feel stilted and messy. There is a lack of chemistry between Hawke and co-star Juliet Rylance – who puts in an only passable peformance as Ellison's wife, Tracy – that makes it difficult to invest much in either of their characters. An honourable mention, however, should be given to scene-stealer and audience favourite James Ransone, who plays an awkwardly adoring fan of Ellison's known only as 'Deputy So-and-So'. Regrettably, Sinister also falls apart somewhat in the last half-hour, with the plot becoming steadily more predictable and some not-scary-at-all supporting ghouls coming in to do background dancing for the main star.

If the ultimate test of a horror movie is just how psychologically disturbed the audience is by the end of it, then Sinister delivers on every level. It's a skilfully crafted house of horrors with a decent story at its centre, and definitely one of the stand-out scare flicks of the last few years.

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