Film Review: SINISTER

Fiction writer-turned true-crime writer, Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance), and children Ashley (Clare Foley) and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario) into the home at which four family members were hanged and the only surviving child went missing.  Intent on writing a novel based on the event, Ellison hopes to piece together missing elements by spending time in the home and sifting through its past.

Sinister uses many classic literary and horror elements (the family move into a new home, the whiskey-swilling author, the desperate move to reclaim a past taste of fame and success, the Boogieman in the shadows, the authority on supernatural phenomena who slowly helps to fill the missing pieces to the puzzle), but in a way that is fresh and unique.  The story reveals just enough clues to tip off the audience about the true nature of the killer, while offering enough surprises to keep them guessing.  It takes a lot to scare me; I started watching horror movies and reading Stephen King in adolescence, and I’m what one might call hard-edged to the genre.  This movie actually made me jump a couple of times, giddy with the phenomenal use of dark visuals, sound, and surprise.

The tone is dark (great use of lighting and nighttime settings), the pacing is perfect, and the use of sound in conjunction with visuals is superb.  If you’re a classic horror buff, Sinister is a must-see—and see it while it’s still in theaters, because you’ll wish you had if you wait for it to go to DVD.  It’s worth the ticket price.  I rate this film an enthusiastic five stars.

For more Sinister fun, check out the following experiment on the physiology of fear using Sinister  as its medium: