Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson, James Ransone, Vincent D’Onofrio, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley, Rob Riley, Tavis Smiley, Zanet Zappala, Victoria Leigh, Cameron Ocasio, Ethan Haberfield, Danielle Kotch, Blake Mizrahi, Nicholas King, Lorraine Aceves, Rachel Konstantin.
To feel your blood run cold is not always a stipulation of a having enjoyed a good horror story, but it is arguably the closest endorsement to how a film can take you to a place that you have no intention of being part of, and yet you find you cannot draw your attention away from the unfolding feel of dread, panic and shock that is coming your way.
On paper, films like Sinister might not at first suggest that the horror will work that is set out in the mind, and yet, like many of the genre that involve the supernatural and children, it is one that grips the viewer with breath hanging suspense.
The story itself might be considered one of fantasy, elements of folklore surround the tale with the ease of twisted and adaptable viper, ready to add the gothic mystery with one single bite. However it is more than acceptable to see the film as one in which could have been conceived by Stephen King, the slowly unravelling writer, the family at risk, the sheer psychological violence as the truth starts to develop; Sinister is a film based in that Stephen King world where the mystery is tied without cynicism to the building and shocking horror.
Ethan Hawke is always good value for roles where his character is being pushed to reasonable expectation, such a master of the wide-eyed shock and convincing disgust, he carries the film with such glorious passion, with increasing terror in his portrayal. The voyeur of the film cannot but help think back to his early persuasive performances, especially in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, it was look of alarm at not being in control of events that endear him to the viewer, and with Clare Foley in support as his daughter, Ashley, and an uncredited Vincent DOnofrio bringing a touch of the Stephen King vibe to the overall arc of the story. Sinister should be considered as one of the great horror films of the decade, simple, effective, in parts enough to make your blood go cold; all that can be asked of in a horror film.
It is the fear of the ordinary object, something we take for granted or for pleasure that can turn our mind to the horror within and Sinister does this effectively, brutally. A great film which seemed to have been criminally undervalued since its release.
Ian D. Hall