Starring Ethan Hawke, James Ransone
Directed by Scott Derrickson
The most remarkable thing about this latest stab at horror by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) is how incredibly effective it is despite a laundry list of shortcomings. By the end credits, youve forgotten all about the familiar premise, suspect supernatural elements, less-than-startling revelations, and predictable shocks. All that really counts is that Sinister has passed the palm sweat test. Perhaps more so than any other genre, horror comes down to technical execution. And Derrickson has engineered a nasty little film that achieves the results it was designed for.
Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswalt, a true-crime writer with a spotty track record and some rather dubious ethics. Trying to replicate the success of his lone hit, he moves his family into the home where a gruesome mass murder occurred. Stumbling upon a box of home movies cum snuff films, he suspects that he may have uncovered the trail of a serial killer. While a cooperative local cop (James Ransone) chases down conventional leads, Ellison finds himself warding off assaults from an otherworldly puppetmaster whos orchestrated decades of bloodshed.
Oswalts desperation to resuscitate his career provides perfect justification for him continuing to press on in his investigation when he really should be running for the hills. Furthermore, his inquisitiveness makes him a notably proactive protagonist, a rarity in a genre stocked with helpless victims. In a role obviously indebted to The Shinings Jack Torrance, Hawke wisely projects torment rather than terror. And as the horrors escalate, its Oswalts mounting realization that hes dug his own grave that makes Sinister all the more haunting. Curtis Woloschuk
