Sinister - Follow your...nightmares

Date: 2012

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Fred Thompson

Director: Scott Derrickson

I’m a writer. I like a bit of true crime. However, I absolutely would not move into a house where I knew for sure a murder took place. But our protagonist, Ellison Oswald, has no such qualms, seeing as he’s busy chasing the success of his one best-selling book. So he does this very thing, moving his wife, son and daughter into a, dun dun DUUUUUUUUNNN, a murder house.

Only he doesn’t tell them. At least not at first.

Release the hounds!

Sinister is a supernatural horror film in which crime writer, Ellison Oswald (Ethan Hawke), moves his family to a new house in order to work on a new book. (What a great name, by the way, right?) His last real hit was ten years ago and since then, his books haven’t done as well as he thinks they should have. Welcome to the world of writing, dear Ellison.

This is his last-ditch effort to make money on a family’s murder and disappearance of the daughter. Maybe in his research, he can even help solve the case. I mean, it’s happened before, so perhaps lighting could strike twice.

There’s one tiny little hitch; he does not tell his family that they’ve moved into the house where the actual murders took place. And when he finds a box of film reels and a projector in the attic (what a coincidence, right?), he begins watching them, foolishly bur unwittingly giving strength to a supernatural force that is hell-bent om possessing his family.

I mean, is being on the New York Times best-selling list worth that much?

Sinister is not a movie we haven’t seen before, but the execution and the cinematography are top-notch. Ethan Hawke, who is, in my opinion, is an underrated actor, hits perfect notes as the jaded writer, desperate to write another book that will be as successful as his last one. In his words, he doesn’t want to become a “textbook writer” even though that will pay the bills. He’s an artist, after all, right?

Aren’t we all.

When he and his family first move into the neighborhood, they are greeted by the superb character actor Fred Thompson, who expresses a near disdain for Ethan Hawke coming in and disrupting his quiet little town with his celebrity presence. As the sheriff, he’s professional about it, but his deputy, a young fresh-faced dude, is pretty starstruck, much to the disgust of Mr. Thompson.

Nevertheless, Ellison persists, even after his son starts to have night terrors and Ellisin begins to see visions of children floating around. I must say, those scenes are some of the best jump scares I’ve seen in a while. They are well-earned and thus scarily effective. Even upon a second viewing, I still cringe a little even when I know they’re coming.

There’s one specific one that nearly made me jump out of my comfortable seat on the sofa on my first viewing, and I’m not kidding.

The entire movie has a deliciously creepy vibe, and the excellent cinematography keeps you intrigued. At times it was a little dark, making it difficult to see exactly what was going on, but I soon realized that was the director’s trick to make you peer more closely at the screen so he could REALLY grab your attention. And oh boy, he really gets your attention.

There are movies within the movies that are truly disturbing, especially when you learn the truth behind them. These vignettes were shot on 8mm film to lend them more “realism,” and let me tell you, it worked (maybe too well), as did the rest of the visual effects of the film.

The always good Vincent D’Onofrio makes a cameo as a professor who’s there to fill in the gaps with a mini-info dumpwhen Ellison needs some explanation of what is going on in his house. James Ransone plays the young deputy that is Ellison’s connection at the sheriff’s department. He’s so very happy to be assisting the famous writer with his research work. I thought the dude was kind of bland, but given that he goes on to star in the sequel to Sinister (which I did not see), I guess someone liked him.

I’ve seen this movie more than a few times, and I have to be honest, it continues to creep me out. The performances, the staging, the overall crawling dread that follows you from the first frame….I have to recommend this movie. True horror fans won’t be disappointed, and if you really get into it, it may give you nightmares.

4 out of 5 honeypots

Til next time, sleep with the lights on!

Horror Honey

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