With Halloween coming around once again, I thought it would be fun to talk about one of my personal favorite horror movies: Sinister. This is by far the most disturbing horror movie I have ever watched, and I want to take a look into what makes it so scary and atmospheric. Watch this movie at your own risk; it might just be the movie that keeps you up at night for weeks.
First, I want to talk about the concept of the movie itself and why it is so unique in its approach to psychological horror. The movie follows an author named Ellison Oswald who wants to write a new true crime novel that will be widely cherished and recognized. After hearing about the mysterious deaths of one family, he decides to move to that same house with his family. Upon arriving, he discovers some very strange tapes. At first, they seem to depict a normal, happy family hangout, like a BBQ or a swim in the pool. However, things take a dark turn, as each of the family members in the videos are killed off, one by one, in very grotesque and disturbing ways. Typically, horror movies are often over the top with their scares: loud noises, blood spurting everywhere, and psychopaths on murderous rampages. This movie is something different. There isn’t an overabundance of blood and guts, but there is something so chilling and disturbing about the inhumane ways these people are murdered.
Another aspect of the psychological horror that is disturbing is the main character himself. You see Ellison slowly get more and more disturbed by these videos as the movie progresses, often making him paranoid and hear things that aren’t there, slowly feeling like he is going insane. Yet he can’t stop watching the tapes. It is almost an addiction to the work he does, an unhealthy obsession with uncovering this mystery that makes him keep coming back and driving the rest of the family crazy. I won’t spoil the ending, but if you do dare to watch this movie, it’s very interesting to observe the effects these videos have on Oswald and how the demonic forces present in the videos become almost inescapable for him.
The final thing I want to touch on for this movie is the soundtrack. When I tell you that I have never heard a soundtrack that perfectly captures the atmosphere of such a disturbing movie like this, I’m really not lying. Each video starts with the music sounding very light-hearted and beautiful, yet with an almost haunting undertone at the same time. This is in part due to the mixing of traditional and electronic music, as well as the pitches sounding not quite right, immediately setting in a feeling of uneasiness. Then suddenly, the mood changes. It becomes quieter, and some of the most haunting and disturbing discordances ring through the speakers. Perhaps the scariest of all, a choir comes in, with chords and harmonies so disturbing that they almost sound like satanic rituals. I would encourage you to listen to the track entitled “BBQ ‘79 (Silence Teaches You How)” to see how the blending of all these microtones, electronic and traditional instruments, and off-pitch choirs contributes to the most haunting music I’ve ever heard in a horror movie. Whatever you do, please don’t listen to this song at three in the morning. Just for your own safety.
If you’re a fan of more psychological horror films, such as The Shining, or just intensely creepy horror movies in general, I would highly recommend watching Sinister sometime this Halloween season. Just don’t let him come for you in the night. Whatever he is.
