Sinister:
The film, written by C. Robert Cargill (Carlyle, former critic of renowned website Spill.com), follows former true crime writer Ellison Oswalt, who moves into a new home, where a gruesome murder took place 9 months before. He plans to write his biggest book ever to re-start his career. He finds a box of old Super 8 films and a projector in his attic, and watches the films (titled with double entendres) which depict families having fun, then being brutally murdered. He begins to notice a mysterious, cultist symbol throughout the videos, and sometimes spots a disturbing, demonic figure in the background. When weird things begin happening around the home, Ellison digs deeper, unearthing a history of a Pagan deity known as Bughuul, who ate the souls of human children. The writing in the film is brilliant, and that is brought to life by the acting. Ethan Hawke as Ellison is just a normal guy. he can be an asshole, but you can also relate to his struggle to return to that limelight, to regain his 15 minutes. Renowned British actress Juliet Rylance plays his wife, Tracy. She loves her husband, but believes he's crossed the line by moving into a crime scene house. Fred Thompson plays the sheriff, who does not like Ellison, he has a good reason, though. Ellison is known for being critical of incompetent, small-town cops in his books. James Ransone plays the deputy, a funny side-kick who helps Ellison uncover more about the case. His scenes are not cheesy and do not feel forced, but are out of place when compared to the other, very disturbing scenes. Vincent D'Onfrio plays Professor Jonas, a historian who helps the police in researching illegal cults, and tells Ellison the legend of Bughuul. The writing is fantastic, and the conversations sound like how real people would talk. The shock moments are truly great. Carlyle and the director, Scott Derrickson, know how to scare. There are very suspenseful scenes, and they keep the demon mysterious and shadowy, rarely showing him. There are some jump scares, in which one works very well. The home movies he finds are truly disturbing, appearing like real snuff films. They are scored well, making them 10x scarier. The music is terrifying. It goes from chanting, to subtle humming, to shrieking sounds. The talent behind the film is remarkable, from Acadamy Award-nominated stars, the good writers, to the director (who made Exorcism of Emily Rose), to the producers (one is Oren Peli, director of Paranormal Activity and producer of Insidious), to everyone else involved. I give credit to Carlyle for his excellent writing, and to the production team, and to everyone involved. Sinister is a deeply disturbing, creepy, shocking horror film with a great writer behind it all. 4/5 stars. (By the way, has anyone noticed the lack of creativity in horror titles lately? It seems like they just use negative-sounding words like "sinister" or "insidous" nowadays, or meta-titles like "cabin in the woods" or "house at the end of the street". Well, I guess it's what the public wants because it sells.)
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