From Scott Derrickson, the director of “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “Hellraiser: Inferno,” comes a new horror-thriller that has set the standard for the genre this year. Ethan Hawke stars as Ellison Oswalt, a true-crime writer who moves into a new home with his wife and children. Unknown to them, the house set the stage for the unsettling murder of the family who lived there previously. Oswalt plans to find out what happened to the missing girl who’s body wasn’t present at the scene of the crime, and to see if she’s still alive.
The audience follows Oswalt in his progress of finding out what is going on after he finds a box full of Super 8 home videos. The footage along with further research puts Oswalt as well as his family in danger leading to the dire ending. It focuses on the obsession Oswalt has for truth, finding what the police have missed in their investigations. This fact doesn’t make Oswalt popular with any police departments, leaving help from the police out of the question.
One of the key contributions to the film, other than Hawke’s performance, is the score by Christopher Young (Golden Globe nominee for “The Shipping News”). It gives the film a tinge of truly sinister feelings for the audience. It is reminiscent of the music and scores of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Especially with the immediate and tenaciously gripping opening scene with the Super 8 creepy look, one might have “Se7en” come to mind.
With the credibility of the script and characters (especially Hawke’s) it is easy to overlook the little things that aren’t either explainable or thought of – it all is part of the feel of the film. The film also does a great job in including regular, modern day horrors – such as parental arguing. Also, with Oswalt accidentally not keeping the skeletons kept in the closet only to be seen by his family (both affecting his children). All in all, the horror movie watcher must look past a lot of things and relinquish him/herself to the terror of what is happening as it slowly and surely escalates. Vincent D’Onofrio co-stars.
“Sinister” is now playing in theaters everywhere, clocked in at the number 3 spot in the box office – at $18 million.
