Opinions vary when someone asks what you picture your dream house to be like. Some people want big houses with more bathrooms than people; some people want a cute, comfortable house with a fireplace and a big backyard. True crime writer, down on his luck, Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moved his family out of a gorgeous mansion, into a house with an unsettling history. Desperate to repeat the “fifteen minutes of fame” he had with a book he wrote a decade ago, Ellison picked the perfect place to inspire his next novel. The plot: a family was hanged from a tree in the backyard of their home. The twist: the body of their youngest daughter is missing.
When Ellison finds a box of old “home movies” on Super 8 film reels, he becomes intrigued. These cleverly titled movies are actually footage of murders. The two things they all have in common? The face in the background and a symbol shown somewhere in frame.
The night scenes seem to be the most nerve wracking; I found myself hiding behind my hands for most of the movie. Director, Scott Dickerson, did a great job of incorporating some comic relief into parts that had me biting my nails. Needless to say, the comedy was greatly appreciated. “Sinister” didn’t have many classic jump-out-of-your-seat moments; there were more times when the terror was building, almost tortuously slow, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats. When the music changes, you know something bad is going to happen, but you don’t know when. That’s what made this scary movie stand out from others. The build up of tension had the whole theater holding their breath. Like the rest of the audience, I screamed the most at a particular scene. Ellison was watching a reel of someone mowing their lawn, but it wasn’t normal. It was dark out and the person that was filming was also holding the camera, so you couldn’t see who it was. The lawnmower picked up its pace and unexpectedly, it runs over something. Over and over again for what seemed like forever to me, but really was only a couple of seconds. I won’t tell you what, but it’ll sure make you jump.
I was greatly impressed by the acting of Ethan Hawke. He played a man that was a little too comfortable with a bottle of Whiskey. He was very convincing. By the end of the movie, he seemed almost crazy. The daughter, Ashley (Clare Foley) was equally impressive. She played such an innocent little girl until… I’ll let you find out for yourself.
“Sinister” is the perfect movie to see, especially with Halloween just around the corner. It’s going to give a couple of the upcoming scary movies a run for their money.
