“Sinister” depicts the murders of multiple families in a number of creative ways. One family is set ablaze in a car, while another receives slashings to the throat, while in bed.
Upon the conclusion of the film, students from the Campus Events Commission sneak screening appeared visibly shaken; some were huddled together in their seats, frozen, while others stumbled out of Ackerman like zombies, with blank stares on their frightened faces. To put it frankly, “Sinister” is going to mess people up. Badly.
On Thursday evening, a handful of brave Bruins attended a CEC sneak of “Sinister,” a highly anticipated supernatural horror flick that has arrived just in time for Halloween. “Sinister” revolves around Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), a true-crime novelist who makes his living by investigating previously unsolved crimes. The untold stories of the murders and kidnappings are then turned into books by Ellison, some of which have earned him great fame and success as a writer. Longing for one last bestseller, Ellison moves his family into their newest home, a recent crime scene.
Upon arriving at his new residence, Ellison finds a box of home movie-style footage in the attic, presumably left behind by the family. Ellison soon becomes dangerously obsessed with the case. As the mystery behind the film progresses, this obsessive writer finds himself consumed by whiskey, supernatural phenomena and his own madness.
The most recent wave of horror films have often relied solely upon the “found footage” style of storytelling, due to the success of recent series like “Paranormal Activity.” In this style, the events on screen are filmed by the characters holding the camera. Often, the implication is that said footage was “left behind” and the characters were never heard from again. In “Sinister,” only the home movies that Ellison finds use this found footage format, and they are some of the strongest points that the film has to offer.
Viewers get to experience each tape in its entirety. Every film is individually eerie, with titles such as “Pool Party” and “Hanging Out.” Most of the film’s darkest moments take place within these tapes, and the much talked-about lawnmower scene alone is worth the price of admission. Viewers will feel genuinely disturbed by the authentic feel of these short clips, which are quite gruesome, dark and realistic.
The film’s score, by Christopher Young, provides for intense jump scares. The viewers’ shock in most of these scenes can be attributed to these sounds, such as that of a film reel or loud crashes. However, the film often takes said noises and slows down or mutates them until they sounds demonic and hellish. The sound design behind the film is quite refreshing, compared to most horror films on the market today.
Ethan Hawke, who most recently appeared in the TV movie “Exit Strategy,” gives his best performance in years as the distressed and disturbed writer.
Hawke’s intensity toward the role is a breath of fresh air in the world of horror which is usually accompanied by average acting, as he captures a brilliant madness and psychological torture in his character that feels authentic.
A surprising amount of comedy and hard laughs in the film come from James Ransone, who plays the town’s incompetent deputy. While many horror films offer cheesy jokes and unintentional laughter, “Sinister” offers some genuinely hilarious moments of dialogue between the deputy and Ellison, whom he greatly admires.
But alas, “Sinister” falls slightly short of perfection, mostly because of the anticlimactic and slightly awkward ending. Unfortunately, since the middle portion of the flick is filled with so many intense scares, the ending seems to drone off without a sense of any explosion of terror.
“Sinister” is sure to provide a spooky Halloween horror experience for even the seasoned veterans of the genre. It’s a good film, and better yet, a near-perfect horror film. This is one of the very few “I had to sleep with my lights on” horror films of the year.
““ Nicolas Curcio
Email Curcio at ncurcio@media.ucla.edu .