Sinister - A Movie Review

Be on the lookout for creepy ghost kids in the hallway.

Sinister was released to theaters in 2012. A writer and his family move into a new home. Ellison finds a box of super 8 home movies in the attic. Witnessing the murderous stories of each film, the true-crime writer realizes the actual terrors that have happened in the house.

After watching various clips of Sinister, I became curious to watch this film. Filled with well-timed jump scares, I was on the edge of my seat. Darkness inhabiting the screen along with chilling images, Sinister is a different take on horror.

A writer’s life is a writer’s life. For all writers, including myself, Ellison’s endless research to composing a novel is what the life of a writer is all about. Ellison’s selfish tendencies get his family into trouble. Moving into a house that he clearly knows has had a troubled past, and lying about it, comes back to haunt him. Literally.

Ethan Hawke demonstrates what it is like for writers to put endless effort into writing a novel. Hawke was terrific. He was very expressive reacting to the disturbing content on the super 8 home movies. In actuality, it was the first time Hawke was watching these films so his authentic reactions were caught on camera.

Playing the roles of the other members of Ellison’s family, Juliet Rylance, Michael Hall D’Addario, and Clare Foley’s main duties are sleeping whenever Ellison is up at night working on his novel. I think they deserved more screentime to let their characters evolve. D’Addario specifically who had an alarming scene is never given a solid conclusion.

I was very surprised to learn that that was Rylance’s first film. She was spectacular. In one scene, she and Hawke fight in a very well-acted argument. They put all their anger and frustration into it. There should have been more scenes involving Ellison and his family to show their dynamics.

I’ll be honest to say that the mean reason why I wanted to watch this film was because of James Ransone. Ever since I saw his performance as adult Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter 2, I have become a fan of his work. Playing a nameless deputy, or ‘Deputy So-and-So’, his quirky personality and helping Ellison with his research, he easily becomes a fan favorite.

Overall, the acting in Sinister is noteworthy. The film gave some members of the film a fascinating role. Playing the part of a ghost is a fun job. One character, known as ‘Mr. Boogie’ (Nicholas King) is so creepy, and yet you want to see more of them.

Most of the time, the lighting is so dark that I could hardly see anything. For example, when Ellison wanders the dark hallways, it is totally dark! Whether it was to increase the horror value, to me, it took away from the film.

The real horror is the frightful images seen in these actual super 8 films. Filmmakers went above and beyond to create super 8 films for realism. They were not easy. Finding ways around certain issues, I was very impressed with the outcome of the spooky images plaguing horrific stories.

Scott Derrickson brought out a haunting tale to audiences. He took a challenge and embraced it. Derrickson did an outstanding job in his direction with the actors. My favorite element was how he directed the distribution of the super 8 films onscreen, showcasing the films from the reflection of Ellison’s glasses.

Sinister has frightening scenes that are not suitable for all audiences. Still, you must experience it. If I were you, I would not miss out on this haunting film.