“Sinister”
Follow this link for more information.
True Crime writer, Ellison Oswalt, moves his family to a house, where the previous owners were murdered, as research for his new book. In the attic he discovers a box of home movies which end up raising more questions than answers, drawing him and his family in to the mystery.
This film had beautiful cinematography, a creative and suitable creepy soundtrack (which I bought, and have to say, it makes far more sense in context), and a talented cast. The chemistry and dialogue worked well. The story was engaging and aside from characters making stupid choices (and people make stupid choices all the time), I was pulled right into the film. That is, right up until the second half of the film.
About midway through, the film changes gears from a creepy thriller that had me guessing, to a disappointingly predictable supernatural horror. Interesting characters fell away and more characters were introduced yet minimally utilized to move the story forward. The addition of too many “jump scares” cheapened the effectiveness of otherwise well placed scenes. It seemed as though writers, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, wanted a surprise twist on the movie, but instead of telling the story, they either just tossed it in the supernatural back story bits as an afterthought or the information was edited out, to the detriment of the film.
I gave this film 2 glasses of wine. It was better than just “meh,” but due to how predictable I found it, not much.
