Tag: Sinister

CAUTION: SPOILERS

[I will say that nothing beats the first time watching this. I kind of wish I hadn’t seen it before so that this review would be a bit more emotionally charged, but it is what it is.]

The opening title screen is a doozy. If you know, you know. If you don’t, stop right here, go watch the movie and come back.

We’re met with a family of four moving into their new home. The father, Ellison, is an author whose best-seller is a true crime story that actually helped solve an unsolved murder case. In the kitchen, Ellison is chatting with his wife who makes him promise that they didn’t “just move into a house where a family was murdered.” Well… with the context of the opening title scene and a slow panning of the camera, we realize that this writer has indeed moved his family into a house where the previous family had been murdered. Technically, he wasn’t breaking any promises, though, because they were killed in the backyard. (Please let me know if you get that reference.)

Rather quickly, Ellison finds a box in the attic with an old-school projector and film rolls. There are 5 tapes that are labeled: “Pool Party ’66,” “BBQ ’79,” “Lawn Work ’86,” “Sleepy Time ’98” and “Family Hanging Out ’11”. Naturally, his curiosity gets the best of him and he brings them to his office to watch with whiskey in hand.

I have to say, I did giggle a bit when he first sits down with his notepad and beverage. I was like… “Oh my god, that’s me right now taking notes.”

The first video he watches is “Family Hanging Out ’11”, which takes place at the home they’ve just moved into. It shows the family playing in the backyard, seemingly unaware that they’re being filmed. Suddenly, the film cuts to 4 of the family members standing under a large branch, their heads covered, hands tied behind their backs and ropes around their necks. We switch over to Ellison, who went from casually sipping, relaxing in his chair to sitting straight up, eyes widened and in utter shock and disbelief of what he’s about to witness. An adjacent branch, which starts to break, has the ropes attached to it…meaning that once that branch begins to fall, the leverage would pull the ropes up. I’m sure you can assume the outcome. Then, the film ends.

Ellison immediately leaves his office and heads to the backyard where the tree with the broken limb stands towering over him. As he looks up, we’re at the perspective of looking down from the limb where the family’s lives ended. If you don’t pay attention you’ll miss it, but amongst the sound of the wind, you can hear what sounds like ropes rubbing against the bark, as if the family was still hanging there. This was such a subtle detail, yet a masterful one.

We won’t go through each tape, but Ellison does go through and watch each one. He realizes that there’s one child missing from each family’s tape. Instinctively, he grabs his phone and dials 911. The operator answers, only to get no response. He stops, glances over at his previous best-seller and hangs up the phone. At this point, he’s convinced he’s just found his big break for his next true crime novel.

There are some cool moments while he’s watching the other films. They include a dope montage of him loading up the projector with film and setting everything up. However, they totally used the same montage later in the movie. The sounds and music paired with each film differ, but, of course, they’re creepy as hell. Not only are the films themselves already gut-wrenching, but the addition of the odd music and weird sounds make it all the more uncomfortable.

There comes a point when Ellison notices that there’s a face that appears in each film. He’s able to transfer stills onto his computer, prints them and hangs them on his cork board. The first time he glares at one of the images, it’s like a standoff. The face is almost antagonistic, challenging the author to not only figure out what’s going on here, but emanates, “Are you sure you want to do this?” It’s ultimately an incredibly powerful scene. Ellison gets in contact with an occult professor, sends him these images and we learn that this mysterious face could be an ancient demonic entity that preys on children.

The missing children are introduced in a pretty unique way. Ellison can’t see them, but as a viewer, you’re able to see them zooming around the house in slow-motion while Ellison is moving at regular speed. The kids’ movements coincide with noises around the house that grab his attention, forcing him to move from one room to the other. They’re messing with him, trying to confuse him and using his curiosity against him.

The last night at their new home, Ellison gets drawn back up to the attic when he hears some thumps in the night. When he makes his way through the hatch, he’s met with the children sitting on the floor in front of the entity, and they all slowly turn to look at him. It’s just as anticlimactic as it sounds, honestly. This scene was a bit underwhelming compared to how the rest of the film was shot. I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve seen it before, but I wasn’t overly fond of how it was executed.

After this, Ellison wakes up his whole family and says they need to leave. Then, they end up cutting to the family moving back into their old house. Everyone’s happy, the lighting of the film is brighter and for the first time in a horror movie, you might be thinking, “Oh hell yeah, they actually left before shit got too real.”

Wrong-o.

Ellison gets a call from the professor who explains this entity’s goal is to receive a sacrifice from its worshipers in order to “save” them. As the camera cuts back, we see Ellison sitting alone at his desk with the deepest darkness looming behind him, as if to visibly display his impending doom. He gets a phone call from Officer So-And-So, who he’s been sending to voicemail all night. As he answers the phone, he takes his coffee that his daughter brought to him before she went to bed. The officer explains that he did his own research about the filmed murders. He tells Ellison, “The problem is that you moved… You not only sped up his timeline, you put yourself in it.”

Turns out that each family that died had lived in the preceding murdered family’s home. Once the family moved, they were murdered. Does that make sense? So, because Ellison moved his family out of the home he thought was haunted, he now put his family in this murderous timeline. When he hears this, he looks down at his mug to find a glowing green liquid swirling around in his coffee. He drops his phone, then the mug and hits the floor.

I remember being absolutely floored (no pun intended) when they explained that twist. Anyone would think that if you’re in a potentially haunted house and seeing little ghost children that moving out is the best option. Apparently not! That’s the point of the kids harassing Ellison in the first place. They spooked him to get them to move so the entity’s timeline could persist. But how wild of a twist is that!? They would have survived had they stayed at the previous home! Who knows, maybe a little sage could have made the kids eff off.

Sadly, as you might have already assumed, the author and his family become victims themselves, adding to the collection of tapes. I really didn’t divulge TOO much about this movie because the first-time watch is unparalleled. If you haven’t seen this movie, PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP. You will not be disappointed.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Sinister! I encourage you to watch this movie and share your reactions in the comments. October is only halfway over – plenty of time for some well-deserved spooks!

Stay tuned for my next review…it’s pretty terrifying.