Don’t have a creepy attic. If you buy a house with a creepy attic – DESTROY IT IMMEDIATELY! That is the primary lesson I learned from Scott Derrickson’s Sinister this weekend. That and don’t be an asshole who lets your family live in a house where a bunch of people just got horrifically strung up on the tree in the backyard. Because lets be honest, even without the supernatural that’s just asking for trouble.
Sinister centers around a true crime writer, Ellison Oswalt, masterfully played by Ethan Hawke, desperate to get his name back in the spotlight. One element that raises this movie above the typical horror film clichés, is Ethan Hawke. My friend turned to me during the movie and muttered, “oh hey, that guy’s actually acting. Huh”. But yes, having someone who recognizes the benefit of subtly and emotional depth adds a real layer to what could be another one note ‘been there done that’ addition to the genre.
What really intrigued me is that the plot, while layered and surprisingly continuous, held no real surprises. The entire mystery was spelled out almost from the beginning. And nothing legitimately terrifying happened for a long time. Yet it was the tension of what could be that frayed my nerves and kept me on the edge of my seat. The all too real home videos and the red herring camera movements meant that I was always expecting a more chilling image or something to pop up in the unused left side of the frame.
Yes, there were cliches: the "creepy child", scary attic, and against all common sense, yelling at the screen idiocy of nighttime wanderings after noises in the dark. Yet Derrickson took these cliches and layered it with real depth and emotion; there was a legitimate plot of a man who puts everything, including his family, below his need to regain a lost fame. Finally, a modern horror movie that doesn't rely on gratuitous violence and gore, but on suspense, emotions, and chilling and lasting fear.
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