Sinister - DVD, Digital Copy

Even with its modern setting and use of current technology, Sinister is a motion picture that is a throw-back to the horror films of the 1920’s – 1940’s. We can even see the roots of the film in some of the work of H. P. Lovecraft’s such as The Dunwich Horror or The Call of Cthulhu. The protagonist, Ellison Oswalt is searching for a rational explanation of the horrific events only to discover, in the denouement, that there is a demonic, extra dimensional, or supernatural cause. But his tragic flaw can be traced back to Greek Tragedy, such as Oedipus Rex. Once he has made a decision to investigate this case solo, his course is set and nothing he does will changes that course.Ten years ago, Ellison had a best-selling true-crime book called Kentucky Blood. In that book, he discovered evidence that the local police had overlooked which lead to the case being solved. As a result, he had much fame and fortune. Since then, his fortunes have declined. His second two books were failures. He even acknowledges that due to the one book a true killer went free. His method of writing involves spending a lot of time at the crime scenes, trying to get into the killer’s head. To write one book, he actually moved his family into a house a few doors down from the murder house, a decision that still does not sit well with his wife. His family members feel the brunt of his investigations from the locals. While his wife is harassed by local police and his children are harassed at school, he can stay at home and do his work with little disturbance or local conflict.Ellison could readily support his family by teaching college and editing text books but his hubris stands in his way. He begins to investigate an unsolved crime in an unnamed Pennsylvania town. A family of four was murdered using a very Rube Goldberg device, and the youngest child, a girl about his own daughter’s age is missing presumed dead. In his arrogance, he moves his family of four into the very house where nine months ago the murder occurred.While his family is tight and loving, they all find his chosen profession to be a bit unsettling. Despite this his wife, Tracy, does not question him strenuously. She accepts his lie of, “I promise you I did not move us into a house a few doors down from where the murders occurred”, with only slight unease. This type of semantic lie should be well known to most of us. He seems on several occasions to be about to confess to this, but he never does and when she finds out by accident, events have gone too far.Scenes of moving into the house show the viewer that both children are extremely upset at having their lives disrupted. The son, Trevor, might be on the edge of being Emotionally Disturbed, or is going through a difficult adolescence. He has a history of night terrors, a condition that often dissipates at puberty. The daughter, Ashley, is quite fey and has been given permission to paint on the walls of her room. Both children have been given strict orders to stay out of his office.Ellison is moving items into the attic when he discovers both a scorpion and a banker’s box with an 8mm projector and several movies with titles such as “Hanging Out” and “Family Barbeque”. He brings the box into his office and that very night after the family has gone to bed, he sits to watch these films. The first film that he watches is “Family Barbeque” and he realizes that the family playing near the tree in the back yard is the very family that owned his new home. They sit to eat lunch and the film suddenly shifts to the murder filmed around the same tree they were just playing around. His decision to not turn the films over to the authorities leads to his descent. Trevor’s night terrors have returned even worse than before. Both children are acting out both at home and socially. The fracture lines between Ellison and Tracy widen. Finally, Ellison begins to see the creature that he saw in the home movies in real life.If you like horror that gets under your skin and moves in, this film is one you will enjoy very much. The images are quiet disturbing but there is little gore for an R-rated film. The acting is superb and it is obvious that all involved with the production are highly invested in making a superlative film. Despite the lurid cover art, this motion picture is not “torture porn”. The bloodiest scene in the film is reflected in Ellison’s glasses as he watches the murders in “Sleepy Time”. If you enjoy a horror films that is a journey of discovery, top notch acting, and continually unfolding shocks, you will consider this to be one of the best horror films out there. In some ways this is a meta-film, a horror film about the effects of watching horror films on the protagonist. If you need the relentless gore and acting chops are not something you regard highly, you will probably feel ripped off by this film.The extras on the DVD were quite good. The director's commentaries both as director and as co-writer were extremely interesting. There is a documentary on true-crime writers and another one about properties where horrific murders have occurred.While my review has some spoilers, I reveal nothing that the trailer put out by the production company does not reveal.

I want to start by saying I am a huge Ethan Hawke fan, and I feel he has never received the credit he is due as an artist. I was not sure what to make of this movie at first, as I played it upon arrival but was really not in the mood to watch it. So I put it away and played it again much later and over and over. This is a fantastic "horror" movie not only in its ability to keep you spellbound, but also in its ability to make you think. It also the affect which PYSCHO has on most people (well at least in 1961 when I saw it) and that is the gore you think you see is not really there...it is your imagination run wild.Hawke plays his role very close to the vest and very calculated. His angst rises in a slow manner until the movies climax. His pre-climatic scares are extremely believable in context of the movie plot. No screams or horrors which are not appropriate (unlike many horror movies). The story lines continues to unfold with unexpected twists and turns, while Hawke takes us closer and closer to his unknowing abyss.The production and execution is believable and the other characters are well developed, particularly Deputy So-and So and Hawke's wife. Once again their quiet unease develops slowly and over time but in a believable manner. The story and horror are featured in such a way that there are no actual gory scenes, and those ideas are strictly left to the viewer. The psychological component is what makes this movie a GREAT horror flick.There are "horror" movies and there are "horror" movies. One relies on actual scenes, blood and carnage to makes its point. There is a place in film for that. But the truly good and great horror films rely on your imagination to work...SINISTER does just that.

This is a TRULY original horror film that has a substantial creep factor to it that makes you literally look behind you if your back is turned toward a darkened corner. I had never heard of this movie and chose to purchase it because the price was right and I love horror flicks, even the really bad ones, but this turned out to be a brilliant movie. The tale is told by a writer who has made his bones by writing about brutal crimes and has fallen from grace because after making a big splash and helping someone falsely accused of a crime, he went on to help free someone who was as guilty as sin and that blow to his reputation has put him in a rough spot financially. His desperation to find that next big story to put him back on top and insure that his wife and two children will be enjoying their previously gilded lifestyle leads him to move into the home of a murdered family where one of the children, their youngest daughter, went missing and law enforcement has no clue where she went or if she is even alive.While he ( Ethan Hawke) tries to piece together what happened to the family and the missing little girl, he stumbles upon something so evil and unexpected that he struggles against his personal need to find the answers and the duty to protect his family from what he has found.If you like a genuinely good story and to get the heebie jeebies from watching a movie, then this is the film for you. An absolute gem!