Sinister

Even with its modern setting and use of current technology, Sinister is a motion picture that is a throw-back to the horror films of the 1920’s – 1940’s. We can even see the roots of the film in some of the work of H. P. Lovecraft’s such as The Dunwich Horror or The Call of Cthulhu. The protagonist, Ellison Oswalt is searching for a rational explanation of the horrific events only to discover, in the denouement, that there is a demonic, extra dimensional, or supernatural cause. But his tragic flaw can be traced back to Greek Tragedy, such as Oedipus Rex. Once he has made a decision to investigate this case solo, his course is set and nothing he does will changes that course.Ten years ago, Ellison had a best-selling true-crime book called Kentucky Blood. In that book, he discovered evidence that the local police had overlooked which lead to the case being solved. As a result, he had much fame and fortune. Since then, his fortunes have declined. His second two books were failures. He even acknowledges that due to the one book a true killer went free. His method of writing involves spending a lot of time at the crime scenes, trying to get into the killer’s head. To write one book, he actually moved his family into a house a few doors down from the murder house, a decision that still does not sit well with his wife. His family members feel the brunt of his investigations from the locals. While his wife is harassed by local police and his children are harassed at school, he can stay at home and do his work with little disturbance or local conflict.Ellison could readily support his family by teaching college and editing text books but his hubris stands in his way. He begins to investigate an unsolved crime in an unnamed Pennsylvania town. A family of four was murdered using a very Rube Goldberg device, and the youngest child, a girl about his own daughter’s age is missing presumed dead. In his arrogance, he moves his family of four into the very house where nine months ago the murder occurred.While his family is tight and loving, they all find his chosen profession to be a bit unsettling. Despite this his wife, Tracy, does not question him strenuously. She accepts his lie of, “I promise you I did not move us into a house a few doors down from where the murders occurred”, with only slight unease. This type of semantic lie should be well known to most of us. He seems on several occasions to be about to confess to this, but he never does and when she finds out by accident, events have gone too far.Scenes of moving into the house show the viewer that both children are extremely upset at having their lives disrupted. The son, Trevor, might be on the edge of being Emotionally Disturbed, or is going through a difficult adolescence. He has a history of night terrors, a condition that often dissipates at puberty. The daughter, Ashley, is quite fey and has been given permission to paint on the walls of her room. Both children have been given strict orders to stay out of his office.Ellison is moving items into the attic when he discovers both a scorpion and a banker’s box with an 8mm projector and several movies with titles such as “Hanging Out” and “Family Barbeque”. He brings the box into his office and that very night after the family has gone to bed, he sits to watch these films. The first film that he watches is “Family Barbeque” and he realizes that the family playing near the tree in the back yard is the very family that owned his new home. They sit to eat lunch and the film suddenly shifts to the murder filmed around the same tree they were just playing around. His decision to not turn the films over to the authorities leads to his descent. Trevor’s night terrors have returned even worse than before. Both children are acting out both at home and socially. The fracture lines between Ellison and Tracy widen. Finally, Ellison begins to see the creature that he saw in the home movies in real life.If you like horror that gets under your skin and moves in, this film is one you will enjoy very much. The images are quiet disturbing but there is little gore for an R-rated film. The acting is superb and it is obvious that all involved with the production are highly invested in making a superlative film. Despite the lurid cover art, this motion picture is not “torture porn”. The bloodiest scene in the film is reflected in Ellison’s glasses as he watches the murders in “Sleepy Time”. If you enjoy a horror films that is a journey of discovery, top notch acting, and continually unfolding shocks, you will consider this to be one of the best horror films out there. In some ways this is a meta-film, a horror film about the effects of watching horror films on the protagonist. If you need the relentless gore and acting chops are not something you regard highly, you will probably feel ripped off by this film.The extras on the DVD were quite good. The director's commentaries both as director and as co-writer were extremely interesting. There is a documentary on true-crime writers and another one about properties where horrific murders have occurred.While my review has some spoilers, I reveal nothing that the trailer put out by the production company does not reveal.

I was shocked this movie was so good.

Disclaimer: I've loved Ethan Hawke since "Dead Poets Sociey." But I'm also a huge horror movie fan so would have seen "Sinister" regardless of his starring role. As others have commented -- and as I comment in all my reviews of horror movies -- the bar has been set pretty low for horror flicks in the past few years, and I've wondered if all the good material has been used up. "Sinister" does borrow a lot from other films; most notably it borrows its central theme from "The Shining." Hawke plays a true crime writer (in real life he is a writer in addition to an actor, which added something to the movie for me), looking to reclaim the glory of his past success. He's also a husband and father who has obligations which compete with his career aspirations. Although his character, Ellison Oswalt, is a much better father than Jack Nicholson's character in "The Shining," there is definitely a comparison to be made here in terms of men feeling like their wife and kids are weighing them down a bit. There's also a found footage aspect which is central to the plot, and a kind of, sort of haunted house they're living in where the family Ellison is writing about was murdered. For all of its tried and true plot points, I will say that for the first time in a long time while watching a horror movie, I wasn't able to figure out the ending until it ended -- which I consider to be a huge plus.However I'm not sure if my inability to guess the culmination of events didn't have something to do with the film's odd pacing. I felt like it started in the middle of the first act...there was very little scene setting...we're in the thick of things pretty much from the get go. And then when I thought I was at the end of the second act, it turned out I was in the middle of the third -- there's a sudden, rapid acceleration of the plot that's kind of jarring. On a positive note, this was a refreshing change from movies that go on and on.What does happen in "Sinister?" Actually, not much. Most of the movie takes place in and on the grounds of the murder victims' house -- we frequently see their murder scene replayed throughout the movie (in fact, this is the first image we see). Ellison spends most of the time in his home office watching old Super 8 films he found in the creepy attic that depict homicides of additional families in other locations. We're supposed to believe that Ellison's desire for another best seller keeps him from turning this footage over to the authorities. As he investigates the murders spooky things happen in the house, he uncovers a few details that shed some light on the situation, yadda yadda yadda, I don't like to give too much away.The key here is "supposed to believe," and a lot of Ellison's actions in the movie aren't believable, but Hawke's acting is, thereby redeeming the weak plotting (other reviewers say this too). Another thing that at least one other reviewer commented on is that the lights in the house are always off; one of the first scenes is the family eating dinner together in the near dark. This did add a lot to the creepy feeling of the movie, but it was also disctracting as every time I saw a light switch in the background I wanted to scream, "Turn on the lights!" at my TV. There is a scene where a law enforcement officer whose character resembles Dewey from the "Scream" franchise says something to Ellison along the lines of, "If I lived in this house I'd sleep with the lights on," and it perhaps came off as more comical than it should have.I still found the movie to be effective because it doesn't give itself away and the found footage is disturbing without being gross -- although this movie is certainly not suitable for kids or anyone with delicate sensibilities and overall, the movie is perhaps beyond disturbing (but you have to get to the end to find out how much so). I watched it yesterday and am still a little creeped out. I like it better the day after than I did while I was watching it...although I certainly didn't want to fast forward...which for a horror movie these days is definitely not a bad thing.

Psychologically scary. Very haunting.