Oh what has Paranormal Activity has wrought.
With apparently no end in sight, the “found footage” ploy rears it’s over used head again in Scott Derrickson’s Sinister. The approach this time around is to combine it with back to basic film narrative as the story plods along. There is however a wonderfully eerie scene at the beginning with an old Super 8 film shooting from a distance. A family of four, hooded and bound, slowly being hanged from a tree mysteriously. Bodies in marionette motion, dances silently in the air before coming still. Losing that effective momentum, the movie jets ahead to the present as a new family moves into a house, headed by a once successful crime novelist Ellison (Ethan Hawke). Unbeknownst to his wife Tracey ( Juliet Rylance) and the kids, the previous tenants were murdered of which Ellison is secretly researching for hopefully his next bestseller. In the attic he discovers a set of Super 8 films (yea you know where this is headed), each depicting the gruesome demise of other families in different fashion. Upon a second viewing, because we know once is not enough, a spectral visage appears in the background. Rather than turning over the found evidence to the local authorities, he splices, edits and digitally downloads the films to his computer ( a expertise not seen since Spielberg first picked up a camera) consults a professor of the occult Vincent D ‘Onofrio (clearly doing a cameo cash grab here), who tries to keep the story on track..sort of.
The snuff footage is effective but directer Derrickson doesn’t have a follow up to sustain it, it’s all the cliches of movie horror past–overly long with a meandering third act. Having Hawke’s character wander three times around a darken house, without the common sense to turn on a light switch for at least two of the occasion is redundantly clumsy. By the way the demon that shows up serves no purpose other than what not to wear next Halloween.
I give this a domestic beer served at room temperature.
