Personal Horror Film Review 1 - Sinister (2012)

Film Title: Sinister

Year of Production: 2012

Director: Scott Derrickson

Genre: Horror/Mystery

Brief Plot Outline:

When a true-crime novelist moves into the home of a recently murdered family, he soon makes multiple discoveries including paranormal activity and details of unsolved murders. However, he begins to realise his decision to move out of the haunted house could potentially put his family’s safety in jeopardy.

Trailer for Sinister demonstrating the plot outline:

 

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?

The first scene that impressed me was when the protagonist comes across a box of abandoned home made movies and begins watching them in his office. This impressed me because of the use of sound including: silence, reels of film and breathing. This really emphasized the element of suspense and tension but also gave me an insight into the narrative structure of the film. For example, from the discovery of the films, the audience could see that the main character Ellison would go on a quest to try and solve the unsolvable crimes that may or may not lead him to his death which set out how the film would unfold. The second scene that was most impressive was when Ellison begins to experience the supernatural. Due to the use of point of view shots, slow montage, low key lighting and close ups, this particular scene felt really eerie and made it more uncomfortable to watch. This resulted in this particular scene being the most suspenseful and frightening out of all the scenes in the film.

How has watching this film helped you to understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?

The features I spotted in the film include: restricted narration, creepy locations, low key lighting, parallel music, collision cutting, close ups, handheld camera, point of view shots, male hero, quick moving monster, fear of death, unhappy endings and sadism.
Spotting all of the above features helped me to understand the genre of horror further because it allowed me to identify how conventions are used to give the audience a particular feeling. For example, the use of the handheld camera made the film feel more uncomfortable to watch as the bounciness made it seem disorientating; for example, when the audience witness Ellison watching the home movies, the handheld camera makes the footage appear to be more realistic which is why it’s more shocking when an aspect of body horror is incorporated into them.  In conjunction with this, the point of view shots used really engaged the audience into the character’s world; for example, as we went from a close up of Ellison to a close up of the projection on the wall the audience can feel as though they are with the character in the same environment watching the same footage which makes the revelation feel more authentic when it happens. The use of conventional creepy location also contributed towards the eerie, unnerving feeling conveyed to the audience. For example, a family home suggests that horrific ordeals can easily occur in a place of comfort and ‘safety’. Similarly, the loft and the back garden are both places that average people will go on a regular basis which leaves the audience feeling concerned that their own sanctuary of safety may not be so safe after all. However, it also brought the audience close to the main character as they witness him experiencing some odd occurrences and is left urging the character not to venture into the scarier areas of the house which conveys a feeling of sympathy.  The height of action in this film was demonstrated through the use of restricted narration; this meant that all of the body horror was off-screen so the audience could only hear what was going on. Although not as gruesome, the restricted narration allows the audience to imagine the extent of the ordeal for themselves which can make the violence seem more explicit. Finally, the unhappy ending rounded off the audiences’ sense of mystery and confusion as they witnessed the daughter kill her entire family and get taken away by the Pagan God Bughuul. This reinforced the conventional horror aspects of the film as the ending brought all of the audience’s thoughts and feelings together to make sense of it all but at the same time leave them feeling disturbed and spooked. 

Close-up of Ellison watching homemade films helped to immerse the audience into his world.

Attic used as a creepy location which confuses the audience by allowing them to think a home isn’t even safe from horror.

Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer?

The most impressive techniques the films used that I would like to include in my own trailer are: point of view shots, collision cutting, parallel music, restricted narration and handheld camera. The point of view shots helped me to immerse myself into the world of both the male hero and the monster; this adds more tension because the audience can see what the characters in the film cannot. The collision/jump cutting was the scariest aspect of the film because it made the audience less aware of the space surrounding the characters which added to the feeling of confusion and disorientation. For example, as the camera cut from a long shot of Ellison, to a medium shot of the loft ladder and back to a close up of Ellison a sequence of time was missing which allowed Ellison to get closer to the ladder; therefore the audience couldn’t quite understand the distance between the loft and Ellison which made the scene much more tense and on edge. The parallel music also worked well with this as it allowed the audience to identify the height of the action. For example, as Ellison got close to the ladder, the music became more high pitched which suggested something exciting was about to take place. The use of both restricted narration and handheld camera really played on the audience’s minds because it gave the film more of a truthful and authentic feeling the made the revelation shocking but still kept the film classy (not a cheap budget film).

 

video clip demonstrates the effectiveness of point of view shots.

Collision cuts between ladder and Ellison makes audience less aware of the space surrounding characters.

Which aspects of the film would you like to avoid in your own trailer?

In order to create a more psychologically disturbing trailer, I would avoid an unhappy ending but leave the trailer much more open without including any big spoilers.  Sinister’s trailer gave a lot of information to the audience regarding its twist and big action scenes which meant they had less of an impact when I saw them in the film for the second time. Therefore I’d avoid this in order to leave the audience wondering what’s going on. I would also avoid really obvious creepy locations such as an attic because it makes the plot seem more predictable and the audience will feel as though they can already guess what’s going to happen. Instead, I would use a more obscure, bizarre location such as abandoned buildings or every day places that people see or visit regularly. This would make it more shocking and can help the audience relate to a character’s environment. The final feature of the film I would avoid is letting the audience know too much about the monster. For example, the trailer included lots of detail about Bughuul which meant he was less frightening to encounter in the actual film itself. Instead, I would only film the monster from a distance or obscure the audience’s line of sight by filming the monster from behind a door or a wall etc.

examples of the creepy locations (the garden, children's bedrooms, Ellison's office):

What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How?

The documentary style of filmmaking was the most enjoyable aspect of the film to watch as it made the plot seem more truthful and realistic. By relating monsters to real life situations/Gods/mythical creatures and well known crimes it may be possible to recreate the sense of real life crisis in my own trailer. For example, the FaceTime conversation between Ellison and the Professor made the plot much more believable. Therefore, the use of voice over and editing could help to recreate a similar situation. This would help to create an overall authentic, shocking, mysterious and intriguing horror film trailer.