THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It is a fun question to ask what is at least one of the scariest movies ever made because various opinions lead to countless answers. But scientifically speaking, one answer would be Sinister.
PLOT
The film follows true crime writer Ellison Oswalt moving into the fictional town of Chatford, Pennsylvania, with his wife Tracy, 12 year old son Trevor (Michael Hall D’Addario) and 7 year old daughter Ashley. Unbeknownst to his family, he has moved into the home of the murdered Stevenson family. He hopes to write a book of the case to regain fame after his last two books failed to replicate the success of his bestseller Kentucky Blood. As he tries to figure out what happened to the missing 10 year old Stephanie Stevenson, he finds a box in the attic of Super 8 reels and a projector, while also encountering a scorpion he quickly kills. Each reel shows multiple family murders including the Stevensons. What each murder has in common is that they’re documented by an unseen camera operator. He does deduce the murder of the Miller family in ‘98, but also finds an unknown symbol and an ominous figure in the background. In another night, he investigates noise in the attic, only to find a reel canister with a snake and childlike drawings of the murders. He even encounters a stray Rottweiler in the backyard. When consulting of his discoveries to a local deputy he sarcastically nicknames ‘Deputy So and So’, the latter refers him to occult specialist Professor Jonas, to decipher the symbol. When reaching out to him virtually, Jonas explains that the symbol relates to an ancient deity known as ‘Bughuul’, who kills families and takes one child to consume the soul slowly. He even shares suspect that the filmed murders are part of a cult initiation rite, rather than the work of one person. When Ellison hears the projector running, he sees the missing children watching one of the films before Buhguul makes a physical appearance. This frightens him deeply that he destroys all of the snuff content and moves back into his old home with his family. However, Jonas reaches out to him again, sharing historical images associated with Buhguul. Based on his research, Early Christians believed that images of Buhguul served as gateways for come to the spirit world and possess children who come into contact with those images. Ellison would then discover another projector with films in his home labeled ‘Extended Cut Endings’. Deputy So and So reaches out to him as well and informs him that the past murdered families from the films have lived in the Stevensons’ before. He then recalls of Jonas’ pattern of how each new murder would occur after moving from the crime scene into a new residence. When one family known as the Martinez’s died in ‘79, that was due to moving from another murder site in ‘66. This means that Ellison has made himself a target after moving out of the Stevensons. When he sees another film, he sees the missing children coming onscreen after each murder, revealing that they kill under Buhguul’s influence. Sadly, it is Ellison, Tracy and Trevor who get murdered by an Ashley via axe, who films it under the possession of Buhguul. Once she does so, she and Buhguul teleport into her film. The film officially ends with the set of Buhguul reels including Ashley’s sitting in the Oswalt’sfamily attic.
THOUGHTS
I recall first seeing this in 2015 before the release of its sequel and years later, I still find myself terrified of what I've witnessed. Director Scott Direckson and co writer C Robert Cargill take advantage of getting viewers out of their comfort zones to trigger everything that makes you tick. The violence that is in display is so hideous and that is what made it feel dangerous, which succeeds in making you feel such dread. Knowing that the pre recorded deaths were shot in actual Super 8 made it feel all the more authentic. And whenever Christopher Young's score would play during each kill, the paranoia gets worse before it could ever go away. The lawnmower reel still hasn't gotten out of my head. Aside from all the terror, what I also get out of this film is that it oddly gives a gripping allegory on how you should never neglect your family and love them unconditionally without feeling compelled to do so. Buhguul is the living embodiment of that allegory because he is so uncomfortably situated between the human and inhuman. Thanks to the haunting performance of Nicholas King, his seamless movement would also make him a preconceived notion of pure evil. While this antagonist will keep you up at night, the main cast keep you invested in the hopes overcome low odds. Ethan Hawke strongly carries this film as Ellison Oswalt. He is indeed one of the most complex protagonists this genre has ever provided, because he enjoys the glory he gets from his work, but still has an interest in his family and wants to do right by him. To him, he kept thinking that success is all that mattered to be satisfied. But when uncovering Buhguul and watching all the reels, he finds out the hard way that it is better to simply appreciate what you already have. Had he and his family lived, I’m sure he would’ve taken a different direction in his career, which possibly could’ve saved it like he was trying to do. Since Buhguul is playing with the family, it is clear that he was also targeting at least one child to keep his schtick going. In this case, Ashley was his perfect prey. The young Claire Foley portrayed her as one who felt so disconnected from her family and spoke loudly through her art and all of that was enough to be suckered in. I also dug Juliet Rylance as the loving wife Tracy. She basically plays it both ways where she wants her husband to succeed, but doesn’t the work he has to do to get there. She is always brutally honest towards him because she is past having hopes up. It is a shame that things appeared to get better between her and Ellison before they shared a grim fate with their son. I also enjoyed James Ransome as Deputy So and So. He plays this character as one who enjoys his job and isn’t exactly ashamed of his personal interest, that is Ellison’s writing. I think he‘s so likable due to the courage he expresses in order to help out however he can. And that alone made him worth the price of admission in the sequel. Last but not least, I had a real kick out of Vincent D’Onofrio as Professor Jonas. I enjoyed his given screen time as well because you just admire how well spoken he is with the knowledge he shares, not feeling like an expositional character at all. The biggest robbery of this sequel is not having him return to help Deputy So and So. This film without a doubt breathtaking for what it is, but even I can admit some issues I noticed when re watching. Like for instance, I’m honestly appalled of how Tracy never looked into the fact that she was moving into a murder house. I don’t want to come off like I’m insulting her intelligence, but if she knew he would do something ridiculous like that, she should’ve looked into the house’s history before stepping foot in it. I actually want to laugh that Ashley figured it out and gets her dad in trouble, but I’m pretty thrown off that she gets scolded for the painting in the hallway and not the Buhguul related one in her bedroom. I’m pretty sure Ellison would’ve had to go into details of his discovery by then because it’ll show his desperation to keep his family together. And I know we need Ellison to uncover Buhguul, but it’s ridiculous short the Super 8 reel to not burn immediately when he pauses it. I know from experience that they don’t take delays before the damage ensues. I was even thrown off to how no one hears the commotion he makes throughout. Like a lot of noise was made when he fell through the attic and when the projector falls. Trevor gets an excuse because he sleeps through his night terrors, but I’m shook that Tracy would sleep through that. Good tension is made when Ellison ignores the phone calls from Deputy So and So when he moves back to his old home, but would it really hurt to tell him that he moved on? He would’ve saved himself before it would’ve been too late. Ignore this and you’ll still be in for a thrill ride unlike any other. In short, Sinister lives up to the hype of being one of the scariest movies ever made by knowing exactly how to get under your skin. If you think horror doesn’t scare you, rest your limits with this one.
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