It isn't often that an imaginative, supernatural horror flick leaves me partially awake during the night. Sometimes real-life crime stories have that effect on me, particularly missing people cases. "Sinister" frightened me more after I saw it than while I was watching it - the feeling of dread and being disturbed is closer to what I felt while watching and I could not take my mind off of horrifying images that are sure to keep you off balance.
The opening shot alone (complete with white noise that you might hear if you start playing an old film projector) had me floored and spooked. It is a Super 8mm projection of a family of four with their heads covered as they are hung by rope in a backyard setting. The image was so unsettling, so horrific and somehow so real that I would've given this film high marks if it was an example of short horror film about found footage in someone's attic. "Sinister" has more up its sleeve. A popular non-fiction crime author, Ellison Oswalt (an excellent Ethan Hawke), uproots his family to this particular house with this haunting backyard, unbeknownst to his wife and kids. His plan is to write a book about his blood-curling true crime event because it involves a missing child. What should be an easy tale to spin, especially if he solves the missing child case itself, turns out to be far more complicated and horrifying. A metal case of 8mm reels are found in the attic. Who left them there? Oh, I won't say and the reels are marked and labeled as supposed family outings such as a barbecue, a camping trip, etc. Only the content is not so innocent as their labels indicate - they are haunting and deeply unsettling murders that follow innocent outings. I've seen my share of horror films but the 8mm reel footage is nightmarish.
If I have one flaw to pick with "Sinister," it is understanding why Ellison never feels the need to tell his wife at least about the history of the house they bought dirt cheap ("Amityville Horror" comes to mind). His caring wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) shows her support yet she's also skeptical and implies she would rather have him writing school textbooks than a real-life crime tale. Ellison could've told her the truth from the start especially about the 8mm reels. For some reason, the projector starts up on its own yet only awakens Ellison, not the rest of the family. Odd to say the least which means that only Ellison has a connection with something potentially supernatural? Then we discover that someone else in the family does. And the discovery in the snuff film footage of some entity, or is it the actual murderer, will keep your stomach in knots.
I will not spoil the rest of "Sinister" because even though I had an idea about where it was headed, I was surprised and shocked by the last half-hour which went beyond what I anticipated. It left me in such shock that I was reminded of the beauty of finding a capable director (Scott Derrickson) and capable writers (Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill) who could summon horrors that have zilch to do with the formulaic "found footage" era or anything remotely "Saw"-like. These guys have created unforgivable, unexpected horrors that exist in the bump of the night and curdle the blood (now I sound like Mary Shelley). Though there are some horror cliches (walking through dark hallways, noises from the attic), they do not come at the expense of the story - they actually make sense and are organic in hindsight! Ethan Hawke and the rest of the cast make us believe and we care for them (even Fred Dalton Thompson as the dubious sheriff and James Ransone as the celebrity-obsessed deputy). The cardinal rules of horror have been followed and "Sinister" also accomplishes something else - it is one of the scariest films I've ever seen.
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