Sinister (2012)

Ethan Hawke in "Sinister."

Most of us are afraid of the dark. Because of this, basements and attics elicit a visceral reaction. Like spiders and snakes, they intrinsically fill us with a tinge of apprehension. Or worse. Often dimly lit and sparsely furnished, their cracking paint, dust and cobwebs convey a distinct sense of abject and imminent foreboding. Whether it’s descending a staircase, or climbing a rickety ladder, the trip into darkness surrounds us with the unknown. We feel vulnerable. What we can’t see might hurt us. The filmmakers behind “Sinister” use these common fears persuasively.
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“Sinister” stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime author Ellison Oswalt, hot on the trail of his latest best seller. Searching for inspiration and insight, he moves his supportive wife (Juliet Rylance) and two children (Clare Foley and Michael Hall D’addario) into a suburban house, which happens to be a former crime scene. It’s not long before things that go bump in the dark make him wish he hadn’t.

The film’s opening shot shows grainy 8mm footage of the house's previous occupants hanging lifeless from a tree in the backyard. All but the family’s youngest daughter was slaughtered. She’s vanished, and is presumed dead. No perpetrator was ever caught.

Oswalt sets about unraveling what happened to them from his bunker-like study. He tacks crime-scene photos of family members to a bulletin board, connects them with yarn, and affixes questions and theories posted on sticky notes.

Pecking away on his laptop one night, he hears a strange noises coming from his attic. Anxiously (stupidly?), he investigates, creeping with trepidation through a house which desperately needs more lightbulbs.

In the middle of an otherwise empty attic, he discovers a conspicuous packing box. Inside he finds a projector, and several old film canisters labeled “pool party,” “bbq,” and “sleepy time.” Curious, he sets up the projector, and loads the film. He’s horrified by what he sees. Instead of innocent home movies, he witnesses snuff films, documenting horrible murders of idyllic families, stretching back to the 60s. Each film contains the same cryptic symbol, as well as a menacing figure watching the carnage. Oswalt believes if he can uncover the identity of this shadowy visage, and how the crimes are connected, he’ll have his own “In Cold Blood.”

What follows is an often-implausible, but also creative and surprisingly effective horror picture. Ethan Hawke tiptoes around dark rooms, where most of us would simply turn on the lights. Sudden, loud noises are startling. However, the straightforward way the violence shown in the home movies is disturbing. Unlike many in this genre, the plot wasn’t evident midway through. Cinematographer Chris Norr frames shots that highlight characters’ vulnerability. Writer/director Scott Derrickson has taken what could’ve been a forgettable, gratuitous slasher, and instead crafted a tense and frightening little film. Aside from conversations with local law enforcement, and a couple of arguments between Hawke and Rylance, there’s little dead weight here.

Like many modern horror films, sound provides many of “Sinister’s” scares. Loud bangs and eerie music create much tension. Without this, the film might be little more than characters wandering in darkness.

Little effort is given to character development or depth. In fact, the only ones who have multiple speaking lines are the Oswalt family, a sheriff and his deputy, and a occult-studies professor. But that’s not the point of a film like this. Its job is to not set off our suspension-of-disbelief detectors, and to frighten. “Sinister” does both well. It is a dark film, full of disturbing moments. While no masterpiece, and often times hard to look at, it's actually pretty good.