Review: Sinister

Movie- Sinister

Language- English

Genre- Horror, Thriller

Director- Scott Derrickson

Cast- Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance... and others.

What actually is the job of a movie reviewer, is it that he is the being who has to undergo the torment of watching the movie in first place and shout out to the world that they may fare better in hell than watch that movie. Well not quite, it is also crying out hoarse to the people, with tears flying off our (the reviewer group! We do have a group! Seriously) faces, praising our hearts off and praying to every humble being who comes across our review to watch it. People sleep safe knowing that we are out there, watching (every movie!) out for them, keeping them safe from the worst ones and leading them towards the righteous way, towards glory. (Yes yes! It is not connected with the movie I am about to review, sadly it’s the mumblings of a reviewer, which you have been tricked to read. Ha-ha, but it is the truth though! I am a superhero! Trust me).

So moving ahead with the movie…

These horror movie directors have no other go, they either need to be inspired from host of movies made previously (nobody creating a new ghost!), or else they remake the same, or blatantly employ the same ol’ghost to do some stuff they (the Director) Creatively think about.  So expecting nothing new, I watched this movie, but was really surprised (little different though) how little effort was made to scare us.

Sinister has a true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt (perfect Ethan Hawke), searching for his glorious story which could bring him back to the pinnacle, which has been evading him recently. Hence our writer chances upon a case, where four of the family gets hanged, and a girl is missing. He shifts his family to the house where the crime was committed, in order to investigate about the crime and write the story in the location of the crime. He finds a box of 8mm snuff movies and a projector in the attic. What happens next forms rest of the story, did he find the missing girl? Who had committed the gruesome murder? Which are revealed to him (and us!) in the end.

Surprisingly the back story of the writer is solid with some real good performances from the leads. Ethan excels and is sync with his character, which contributes to the credibility of the movie. And also his expression in the scary scenes is good, and does not look like made-up. The wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) is also good and is effective. Also the kids too live up to their role.

The following section may contain some spoilers, those who don’t want them to be revealed, jump to the Pros and Cons section. Sorry couldn't help it.

Our writer finds a host of tapes with some strange names from the box in the attic. When he gets to watch them he finds that all these tapes contain recordings of a gruesome murders dating back to the 60’s. With help of a Deputy- Fan, he pieces together the crime and tries to find the killer and the missing children in each case.

Problem is that, the reason behind killing revealed at the end is found to be an afterthought. For a horror story to be complete, we need credible story for the ghost or whatever evil form that is. We need a reason for it to kill people, no evil kills without any reason. It needs to be shown, how it all began, how it had originated. Only a good story will make the evil and its killings effective.

No! nothing of that sort of thinking crosses our director’s mind and we are left with some obscure name, and a very weak back story. We are never told why it happens the way it happens. What was the reason behind the methods of killing employed, why the hell was it taped (of course! For the sake of this movie), but so many loose ends make the plot very weak.

Basically an evil should be evil, and it should do evil things etc. Here the character looks (with make-up and all) evil but it does nothing of that sort, just reveals its face here and there. The evil thing needs to be more evil, I found the evil to be rather boring, and with no credible back up story to support its case, it was just another pathetic figment of imagination. There is no job for the evil character other than to scare us with close up shots in few places. 

The background score is good and suits well to the horror theme of the movie, most places it is silent and which is just a prelude to the horror to be unleashed. The editing was good, no lagging, fast paced movie. The camera work was good capturing the feel of the movie, and many an instance in darkness. There are many jumpy scenes, which would bring your heart to your mouth, watch out.

Cons: It could have been so much more. With such a backup plot for the main character, solid performance by Ethan, and a good story line, the movie could have made better impact. But sadly it fails in the main part here, the horror story was missing. There needs to be a credible story for the ghost, reason etc. and tying up the loose ends is also highly essential, which is sadly let loose and hastily tied up in the end. A horror movie is not made just to scare us, it needs to have an excellent story backing, only then it can be considered a good movie. The concept of snuff movies was creative, and also the suspense (by then most of you would have guessed!) at the end, but this spirit was not to be seen in rest of the places where it was essential. Hence falls short of being a real scary horror movie, we have seen much better, but any case it was not the worst.

Pros: It really scares you. The background silence and sudden sounds will make any sturdy hearted person jump from the seat. The problem is that these scenes are few and far off. I liked the way the movie ended; the climax was good (sadly it could have been more gruesome! Should have watched unrated version I guess!). Ethan Hawke performance was solid. A good story line, keeps you interested. 

Overall: The movie scares you, and it does not bore you. But if you are looking for something more and much better give this one a miss.  

P.S: Watch it at night, especially when no one at home. Best of luck!

P.S.S: Will also recommend ‘Drag me to Hell’ for the brave hearts who want to try it alone at night.