Sinister review - the horror event of 5th October

Every film critic tired of watching generic horror film after generic horror film has thought the same thing: ‘I could write a better film than this’. On the evidence of C. Robert Cargill’s first foray into the world of horror screenwriting, it turns out you can’t, but you can give it a decent stab. Directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson, Sinister tells of one-hit-wonder crime writer Ellison Oswalt, respectably played by Ethan Hawke, who moves his family into the house of an unsolved, brutal murder. From this venture he seems to hope to score another bestseller and perhaps not to provoke an ancient evil, but who knows. 

Literally just turn a light on...

Sinister is not without merit but it is cripplingly by-the-books. An over reliance on jump scares leaves the audience unsure whether they are tense due to well-constructed suspense or for fear of their ears, as each jump scare is inexplicably accompanied by a ludicrously loud bang. Sinister is at its best when we’re presented with Ellison working on the case, pinning up evidence, lining up the clues. From Zodiac to Fear X to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there is something compelling and impulsive about the obsessive, near-fetishist lying out of information. For what it is, someone pinning up notes, photos and clippings, it’s very cinematic. However, for every moment that skips along nicely there are handfuls that sag and grate. Why, for example, does the menace of the film seem fixated on making the camera jump rather than a character that would clearly see said menace standing just out of shot ready to lean in and say ‘boo’? Furthermore, there is an element to the film that explicitly recalls Guillermo del Toro’s wonderful The Devil’s Backbone, opening them up to heavily one-sided comparison.  

Derrickson directs with confidence and most actors hold up well, a special mention goes to the always watchable James Ransone as a bumbling but on-the-ball local deputy. Derrickson’s bogeyman tale is decent, jumpy fun and a film that awkwardly works best when being a crime mystery and not an all-out horror. It is contrived and ultimately throwaway but as a Halloween night out, Sinister holds up pretty well against the yearly onslaught of sequels and remakes.

"Ahh! Why am I in a box?!"