Movie : “Sinister” (2012)

Movie : “Sinister” (2012)

“Sinister” (2012)

Sinister is a 2012 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. It follows true-crime writer Ellison (Ethan Hawke) as he discovers a box of home movies that put his family in danger. The film employs “found footage” along with traditional cinematography. Sinister premiered at the SXSW festival, and was released in the United States on October 12, 2012.

• Directed by Scott Derrickson  
• Produced by Jason Blum  
• Written by C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson  
• Starring : Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, Michael Hall, D’Addario…  
• Music by Christopher Young  
• Distributed by Summit Entertainment  
• Release date(s) : March 11, 2012 (SXSW), October 5, 2012 (United Kingdom), October 12, 2012 (United States) 
• Running time : 110 minutes  
• Country : United States  
• Language : English  
• Web Page : http://haveyouseenhim.com

Sinister : Plot

The film opens on Super 8 footage where a family of four are standing under a tree with bags over their heads and nooses  around their necks. An unseen figure saws a tree limb acting as a  counterweight with a pole saw, and cuts it off, sending the family up,  strangling them. 

Months later, true-crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves into the same house as the murdered family with his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance),  and their two children Ashley (Clare Foley) and Trevor (Michael Hall  D’Addario). Ellison uses the murders as the basis for his new book.  Supposedly, there were five members in the family, and one of the  children went missing after the murders. 

Ellison finds a box in the attic, which contains a projector and  several reels of Super 8 footage that are each labeled as if innocent  home movies. He watches the films, all depicting families murdered in  various ways, including having their throats slit in bed (Sleepy Time ’98), an arson (BBQ ’79), being drowned in their pool (Pool Party ’66), being run over by a lawn mower (Lawn Work ’86) and the hanging that opened the movie (Family Hanging Out ’11).  The drowning one proves especially disturbing for him, as he sees a  dark figure with a demonic face. Upon seeing this figure, strange things  begin happening around the house. Ellison continues to observe the  films, and discovers strange things in them, such as symbols painted  near the murder scenes, and the demonic figure, which begins to show up  in every film. 

He calls a deputy (James Ransone)  to help him find the location of these murders. After going through the  images, the deputy refers him to a local professor, Jonas (Vincent D’Onofrio),  whose expertise lie within the occult and demonic phenomena, to  decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that the symbols  are that of a Pagan  deity named Bagul, who was known as an eater of children’s souls,  killing the families of the child and then taking the child to his own  netherworld. One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and  goes up to the attic. He finds five children (all of whom were the  missing from each family after they were murdered) watching one of the  films. When Bagul suddenly appears in front of him, Ellison falls from  the attic. Having had enough, he burns the projector and the film and  moves out with his family. Upon returning to their old house, he goes  into the attic and finds the box containing the projector and film,  completely unharmed. However, there is a new item inside: an envelope  with “extended endings.” Within that, Ellison finds that after each  murder took place, the missing child would come onscreen, revealing them  to be the murderers, and then disappear. 

Ellison again chats with Professor Jonas, who sends him scans of rare  historical drawings of the mysterious symbol and explains that Bagul  would supposedly appear in the images, which acted as portals between  his realm and the mortal realm. 

Shortly after, the deputy, whose repeated calls Ellison had been  ignoring all day, calls again and this time Ellison picks up. The deputy  informs him that he has discovered the link between the murders: each  family had last lived in the house where the previous murder had taken  place. By moving out of the house, the deputy continues, he has put  himself and his family in place to continue the pattern. Ellison begins  feeling light-headed. He looks in his empty coffee cup and finds a  mysterious liquid left behind, then notices the note that was under his  cup from his daughter and loses consciousness. 

Upon waking, he finds himself, his wife and son bound and gagged in  the same manner as the families in the Super 8 films. Ashley walks in,  carrying an axe and a Super 8 camera. She then documents the grisly  murders of her father, mother, and brother, and paints the walls in  their blood, with several childish images such as unicorns, cats and  dogs . She then goes to the projector and plays the film she just took,  revealing the children in the hallway. Upon Bagul’s appearance, the  children run away. Bagul picks up Ashley and walks into the film with  her. 

The final shot shows the box of film in the attic of the Oswalt  house, this time with a new canister that reads “House painting ’12″.

Sinister : Cast

• Ethan Hawke as Ellison Oswalt 
• Juliet Rylance as Tracy Oswalt 
• Clare Foley as Ashley Oswalt 
• Michael Hall D’Addario as Trevor Oswalt 
• Fred Thompson as Sheriff 
• James Ransone as Deputy 
• Vincent D’Onofrio as Professor Jonas

Sinister : Production

Shooting for Sinister began in fall of 2011, with Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance signing on to star in the film.

Sinister : Release

First revealed at the SXSW festival in the United States, Sinister premiered in the United Kingdom at the London FrightFest and in Spain at the Sitges Film Festival.

Sinister : Reception

Reviews for Sinister have been generally positive, with Variety praising the movie as “the sort of tale that would paralyze kids’ psyches”. Film.com stated that Sinister was a “deeply frightening horror film that takes its obligation to alarm very seriously”. 

As of October 16, 2012, the film has a 63% fresh rating on Rotten  Tomatoes with 107 reviews.The concensus of the site is “Its plot hinges  on typically implausible horror-movie behavior and recycles countless  genre cliches, but Sinister delivers a surprising number of fresh,  diabolical twists.” Criticisms are minor: CraveOnline called the film “solid” but remarked that the film “doesn’t quite go to the next level that gets me like an Insidious”, and IGN praised the film’s story while criticizing some of Sinister’s “scream-out-loud moments” as lazy. 

Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek wrote, 

For the most part, Sinister is about its protagonist’s growing obsession. Director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still) appears to be deeply influenced not just by the horror genre (most obviously The Shining) [but also] by such films as Michael Mann’s Manhunter, Joel Schumacher’s 8mm, and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation.  Like the main characters of those films, Ellison becomes consumed by a  mystery, and spends long periods of time engrossed in the pursuit of the  truth – like us, he’s repulsed by what he sees, but can’t quite bring  himself to look away. 

Lambie, rating the movie 3 of 5 stars, says that despite its “faults, there’s something undeniably powerful about Sinister.  Hawke’s performance holds the screen through its more hackneyed  moments, and it’s the scenes where it’s just him, a projector, and a few  feet of hideous 8mm footage where the movie truly convinces. And while  its scares are frequently cheap, it’s also difficult to deny that Sinister sometimes manages to inspire moments of palpable dread.” The reviewer for Time Out London  granted only 2 out of 5 stars, saying, “This so-so, occasionally  effective horror film combines found-footage creepiness and  haunted-house scares – but is stronger on mood than story.” 

Reviewer Garry McConnachie of Scotland’s Daily Record rated the film 4 of 5 stars, saying, “this is how Hollywood horror should be done… Sinister covers all its bases with aplomb.”

Sinister : Other Links

• Argo (2012)

Sinister : Other Stores