Skip to main content

A Movie I Love

 "Sinister" is a movie with a terrible title. I'm fully against affixing a lazy adjective to a movie--and calling it a day. This would be like re-christening "Anna Karenina" as "Sad." Or re-branding "Middlemarch" as--simply--"Dramatic."

"Sinister" should be called "Home Movies," or "The Writer."

Anyway, what is this film? It's a partial update of "The Shining." A writer, Ethan Hawke, moves his family to a new locale, because he wants to jumpstart his career. But Hawke withholds some information. The new house is actually the sight of a terrible crime: Five or six family members were once found hanging from a tree in the backyard. The sixth family member--a child, and possibly the murderer--has never been located.

Odder still: The killer (or someone else?) has left a snuff film in the attic. Several snuff films. There's the hanging scene, but also footage of a drowning, footage of a car bomb, footage of Jim Jones-esque drug abuse....

At this point, my husband looked at me, in wonder, and said, "I really can't believe we're watching this...."

Well, fair enough. But do you know who shares my fondness for "Sinister"? It's Roger Ebert. This is a rare horror movie with strong reviews. It's a horror movie that drew the attention of Ethan Hawke--a first--because, unlike previous scary scripts, this one actually offered Hawke a *character* to work with. Our hero--failing to disclose important info to his wife, hitting the sauce a bit too much, denying his own lust for fame--is so weak and so relatable. And the wife is Juliet Rylance! There are moments when the movie feels like "Before Midnight," because you have these two top-tier actors bringing a marriage to life, showing how two adults can both want *and fear* the chance to wound each other late at night.

Am I over-selling "Sinister"? Maybe. But I also want to point out that this movie included a debate about the ethics of true crime even before that became the very thing that everyone in America wants to talk about constantly. (The script's way of parodying true-crime titles...."Blood Diner," "Kentucky Blood," "Cold Denver Morning" .....Delightful!)

Also, I'm fond of the puns attached to the snuff films: A drowning is called "Pool Party." One bloody scene--where the walls turn red--is called "House Painting."

Finally, I love this movie's iconic scene: A child, approaching her insanely status-conscious father, holds up an axe, ready to kill. "Don't worry, Daddy," says the child. "I'll be sure that you *always* remain famous."

I haven't even talked about the snake and the scorpion. This is a weirdly funny and surprising horror story. Two thumbs up!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

The Death of Bergoglio

  It's frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as "the less awful pope"--because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I'm quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.) He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.) He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement. Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous me...
1 comment
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more