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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Horror treat promise more of a trick
Ethan Hawke in a scene from "Sinister." (PHIL CARUSO / SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Movie review
Sinister
- Starring Ethan Hawke
- Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne
- 18A
- 109 minutes
- 2 1/2 stars out of five
Co-writer-director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) knows that some of the most effective horror movies establish serious dread in the first few minutes. Hence Sinister begins with unnerving home-movie footage of a family of four being executed in their backyard, hanged from a tree by an out-of-frame killer.
That pretty much does the trick in creating an initial sense of unease. It only grows when true-crime author Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) not only visits the scene of the crime, he moves his wife and two kids into the small-town murder house, not telling spouse Tracy (Juliet Rylance) how he managed to purchase it at such a bargain price.
But Ellison doesn't fool the town's police chief (Fred Dalton Thompson), who is offended by the writer's exploitative motivations and zings him: "This is just another waste of your time, like your last two books."
The cop fails to take into account the author's desperation. Once celebrated for his single bestseller, Oswalt is looking for "my In Cold Blood" and hopes to find it in this mysterious case in which the entire family was murdered, save for a young girl, who is still missing.
"I just need another hit," he plaintively tells his wife.
Certainly some kind of breakthrough seems to be heading his way when he discovers a box in the attic labelled "Home Movies" containing reels of Super 8 film and a movie projector.
Locking himself in his office, Ellison screens the films, innocently labelled with titles such as "family barbecue" and "lawn work" only to discover they are records of not one but a whole series of family homicides.
Ellison fails to report the evidence to the police and transfers the images to his computer, effectively launching his own investigation in what seems to be a series of grisly cult slayings.
Derrickson skilfully builds the tension by focusing almost entirely on Ellison. A real true-crime author would get out and knock on doors, but this movie might as well be The Shining for all the time the hero stays in the house, sinking deeper into queasy apprehension as he slowly realizes the 8mm footage contains hints of a demonic presence. (Hawke earns his salary with an intense portrait of career recklessness transforming into primal terror.)
But instead of building to the desired climax, Derrickson's efforts result in a kind of deflation two-thirds into the movie, as the story eventually devolves into tired horror-movie hokum.
Sinister is the first off the mark in the annual Halloween season releases, and it's sadly appropriate that the promise of a horror treat turns out to be a disappointing trick.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 12, 2012 D5
History
Updated on Friday, October 12, 2012 at 9:47 AM CDT: adds photo
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