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| Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) viewing the horrifying footage. |
(Originally Published on October 20, 2016)
After the disappointment of
The Day the Earth stood
Still (not to mention a Razzie Nomination for Worst Prequel, Remake,
Rip-off or Sequel) Derrickson returned to what he did best, scaring the living
daylights out of everyone with his third outing that lives up to its
title.
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| Discovering the Super 8 projector..... |
Premiering on October 12, 2012 in what is perhaps his most
popular film with audiences; the movie follows Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), a
true-crime writer attempting to make a comeback. Hoping to cover more ground on
the murders that he’s writing about, he moves with his family into a house were
one took place; a detail he decides not to mention to neither his wife or kids.
One night he discovers a box containing a Super 8 projector with a couple of
film reels; to his shock, each footage shows various families being hanged,
drowned, burned or murdered in some other graphic manner. Seeing an opportunity
for a possible best-seller, Oswalt tries to fathom this gruesome mystery but the closer her gets, things begin to get a little eerie. Who made these films?
Who could have committed such monstrous acts? A serial killer or something much
more sinister?
From the opening scene I could tell this wasn’t going to be
your run-of-the-mill scary movie. Derrickson delivers a truly terrifying ghost
story that brought to mind R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series but
with an adult edge. There are scares, moments of tension and elements of
mystery as we are immersed with Oswalt in trying to put the pieces of the
puzzle together. Derrickson’s recurring theme of belief also makes an
appearance when the case moves into possible paranormal territory.
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| .......and what it contains. |
A rarity that this movie brought is that the characters are
believable and to an extent likable; that’s not to say that they are all around
nice. The main lead Oswalt has his flaws and we especially see it in his desire
to have fame once again, that he makes many rash decisions during the
investigation. Still, you feel for the guy compared to characters in other the
horror movies that are mostly made of idiotic and obnoxious morons. The rest of
the cast is terrific from a comic relief deputy who assists in the case (James
Ransone from HBO’s
The Wire), a gruff sheriff who doesn’t approve
Oswalt’s new residency (
Law & Order’s Fred Dalton Thompson) and
a professor with an expertise in the occult and supernatural (Vincent D’Onofrio
from Netflix’s
Daredevil and
Men in Black).
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| Oswalt getting advice from the Deupty (James Ransome). |
Also, I couldn’t help but notice that Oswalt seemed like a
sort of replica of Derrickson himself from
the hair, goatee, black-rimmed glasses, and delve into nightmarish subject
matter. Both are writers but where Oswalt writes books on real crimes, Derricskon writes screenplays to horror movies. Oswalt looks at some horrific footage and other scary material when
writing his novels, while Derrickson watched a bunch of footage of demon
possessions and exorcisms while working on
Emily Rose. Oswalt
wrote a best-seller with his first book only to have his later material flop
whereas Derrickson also made a hit with his first film but failed to deliver
with his second. The director has even stated
that the character embodied a bit of himself and certain aspects of what he
feared of becoming, like having long night talks with his wife, to putting his
work ahead of his family.
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| The Actor and the Director. One in the same. |
For those who enjoy watching scary movies, Sinister will
not disappoint and even if such movies aren’t your thing this is one of the few
modern horror films delivers good scares, plot, and characters, that I highly
recommend it. It may not be for the faint of heart but it’s one of the
better modern horror movies out there.
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