Turn on the bloody light!!
I missed this one in the cinema. Family and friends said “Hell, no” to accompanying me after seeing the trailer. They’d had enough of me dragging them to horrors over the years, and there was no way I was going to this alone. Sinister ended up getting luke warm reviews, but I still wanted to see it. Since this came from the writer/director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, I should have been prepared to be properly scared.
Ellison (Ethan Hawke) is a true crime writer down on his luck. He uproots his wife and kids and moves them into a house where a family were massacred – he doesn’t tell his wife this (he’s an idiot asking for trouble). He finds a box of old films containing footage of murders of entire families – disturbing and terrifying films of the last horrific moments of people’s lives. At this point, he should have informed the police and handed the evidence over. Instead, he decides to investigate alone. Weird stuff is already happening in the house. His son has terrible night visions, there’s creepy sounds in the attic, he watches footage of himself surrounded by ghostly hands, and yet when his wife begs him to pack up their stuff and leave, he refuses. Frankly, he was asking for evil to come find him.
The cast is likeable. You care about this family and want them to get out alive. At times the music is frightening (jagged, uneven, erratic sounds) and my nerves were on edge. Sinister may not be the most original horror film, but it’s Unsettling. I was freaked out the whole time watching it and afraid to turn off the lights when I went to bed. And that reminds me. I wanted to scream at Ellison to turn on the bloody light. Apart from one occasion when the power is out, he really has no business roaming around his house at night in the dark.
Slow moving, creepy and with plenty of tension, Sinister is right up my alley. Throw in Ethan Hawke and I was sold. If you’re a fan of big scares and slasher type horrors, this won’t be your thing. But if you’re more into subtle and psychological horror, then you’ll appreciate this. ****
Anyone seen this one? Don’t watch it by yourself!
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Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 