Sinister is about a true crime writer played by Ethan Hawke trying to prove that he is not a one hit wonder. He moves his willfully clueless family to a crime scene to work on his next book. As soon as they move in, he finds items, which may help him with his endeavor. Sinister’s central question is what is more important: your ego or your family? What is your legacy: your children or the creations of your mind? By the time he figures out the right answer, it may be too late.
I loved Sinister and plan to watch the sequel as soon as possible. The main character plausibly and knowingly does stupid things that could make him complicit, but is understandably motivated by his desire to maintain or improve his professional reputation, to make money and to get fame. Sinister can be seen as an American horror prequel to After The Storm.
Sinister also works because of all the genre elements that it artfully combines: found footage, true crime mystery and supernatural horror. Many crime thriller or horror films fail because they try to have their cake and eat it too. They want all the possibilities of whodunit to be left on the table until the end mistakenly under the impression that the ambiguity makes the film feel clever and suspenseful, but it just feels like another gimmick with no real sense of what really drives the momentum of the story. Sinister’s brilliant pacing knows how long to be ambiguous and when to commit to a path, but while the possibility of a serial killer or a supernatural force is equally plausible, it does not change how the characters would respond to the information. Selfish irresponsibility drives the momentum in Sinister regardless of who committed the crimes.
Sinister does a great job of making the viewer identify with Hawke’s character. If you scream at him for watching snuff films, you have to condemn yourself too. Why are we compelled to watch evil things even or especially when it horrifies us? He is motivated because he is going to get something, but what do we get? I love confronting the horrible without being touched by it in some hope that I have virtually experienced the worst case scenario so if it never happens, life is great, but if it does happen, I will not be paralyzed and able to face it better than the protagonist of the film.
Sinister pays homage to films like The Storm of the Century, The Amityville Horror, Manhunter and The Ring. I feel like the family from Dark Skies needed to go back in time and tutor Hawke’s character on how to handle this situation, but then there would be no movie. Sinister is such an effective horror film that now when I see news stories about a family of four, and three are found dead, but one is missing, I think of Sinister, and it happens a lot more than you would expect. If you closely watch Sleepy Time, you can see how the family is subdued, and there are clues throughout Sinister that the dad at least subconsciously knows who will wield the weapon even though there are two early red herrings.
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I really enjoyed Sinister’s villain. It reminded me of the best elements of Supernatural, the CW TV series, and the Marvel films and TV series. Because I was raised fundamentalist Christian, there is a low key belief that there are actually other gods, and these gods usually have the same name, but because people don’t read, they don’t recognize that an alleged alien visitor shares the same or a variation of the same name as an earlier pagan god. I loved the idea that Mr. Boogie or Baghuul lives in the images, which invokes one of the Ten Commandments and adds to the credibility of the legend. The scene when he turns his head on the computer is particularly terrifying: will he go viral? I love the idea that there are few images of him that survive, but they constantly transform and evolve: drawings, film and now as a jpg on a computer.
Baghuul is a foil for Hawke’s character. Hawke’s character is like Baghuul. He cares more about his own desires than helping the police solve the family’s murders, which he proudly claims is his real motive: to find Samantha. The minute that he decides not to tell the police about the footage, which he never does, he consents to Baghuul. They prioritize their child’s art over her physical and psychological health. His daughter only mimics her father’s behavior: sacrifice your family to immortalize yourself and your work. Whenever there is a disturbance in the house, he calls out to Ashley, not his son. On some subconscious level, he knows what is happening to her, and he does not care.
I think the final scenes are absolutely necessary for the narrative as a way to understand Baghuul’s modus operandi and the family’s behavior in Sinister. The crime scene house is a dump compared to where they used to live. Their original family home is spacious and luxurious. They have tumbled down from affluent to middle class. The viewer finally understands why Hawke’s character is financially desperate for another hit, why the wife has tolerated a third goose chase and why the kids want to go back home. (Side note: wife, if you resent what your husband does and want him to change course, get a job and drive the car. These kids are old enough that you can start jumping back into the market. Your sibling does not want you and your two weirdo children moving in. I need Dark Skies’ Keri Russell to school this family.) Sure they had each other, but I think that while they want it to be enough, it isn’t. The resentment at the downward mobility was already planted.
Sinister is a merciless film. Kids are murderers and get murdered in the film. Does the chihuahua get adopted? The poor dog barks at Hawke’s character and tries to tell him what is happening, but he does not speak dog. (Whose dog was that?) The snuff films are beyond creepy. For real, a serial killer may be watching your family and preparing to kill you-best case scenario! There would be no movie if I was in Sinister, but even if I briefly toyed with the idea of moving in to the murder house, I would have sold the place after I saw a scorpion in the attic. Congratulations on your new home, scorpion! Here are your keys.
Sinister has a great cast. Fred Dalton Thompson plays the disapproving sheriff and brings the Law & Order credibility to the beginning of Sinister. The Wire’s James Ransome is Hawke’s Rod from Get Out. Vincent D’Oniofrio plays the Dark Shadows’ Prof. Stokes character in Sinister who gives the background on all the occult symbols. Hawke is one of the few actors who can play characters that do objectively awful things, but can still retain viewer’s sympathies.
Sinister is a solid supernatural horror film, and if the sequel retains the same elements of the original, I would welcome a new franchise.