Sinister

Sinister is one of my favorite horror films. I was only able to see it twice in theaters, but it was terrific. I was literally shaking in my seat, because of all the wonderfully placed jump scares (my favorite having to do with a lawn mower).

Summary:

Ellison Oswalt is a true-crime writer of the once popular "Kentucky Blood." Looking for fame once again, he moves his family (unbeknownst to them) into a house whose previous owners' bodies (except for one of the daughters from that family) were found hanging by their necks from the tree in the backyard. In the attic of their new house, he finds a box of super 8 'home movies,' revealing the last moments of that family (the previous owners) and several others. Throughout the film, Ellison uncovers the mystery of the missing children and their relation to the unknown figure, who appears in some way in each of the home movies.

Review:

As I wrote above, this is one of my favorite films. Usually, when I watch horror movies, I am a little disappointed in some way. This film, however, was nearly perfect. 

One of the aspects that I enjoyed (which I normally don't notice unless it's really good or really bad) was the music. It was used especially well in the home movies. Since there are no sounds, the music used is both soothing and creepy. One thing that I found really interesting, that I discovered after watching the film, is the possible inspiration from black metal. For those that don't know, black metal is a subgenre of metal music. While watching the film, Until the Light Takes Us, a documentary on the history of black metal music in Norway, I recognized one of the songs that was also in Sinister ("Silence Teaches You How to Sing" by Ulver). I was also struck by how similar Bughuul's (the demon) appearance was to the corpsepaint of black metal bands. I don't know if it was intended by the filmmakers, but I think they might have designed his face to look like a 'natural' version of corpsepaint. 

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the tension/mood throughout the film. It scares you right from the start, with the creepy music and the footage of the family being hanged. The film has several jump scares, which are all effective. So, whenever the film isn't creepy, it's terrifying (with most of the scares happening at night).

The only thing that I was a little disappointed with was the look of Bughuul. His face was scary enough, but I found his body to be 'too human.' At the end, you get to see him clearly and his body looks like a normal human body wearing clothes (white shirt, black trenchcoat, black pants, black shoes). I think it would have looked more demonic if he didn't wear clothes that were so normal. For example, if he wore something old, raggedy, and dirty; or if his body didn't look entirely human.

The Cure

I went to my "first" concert recently, and it was amazing! I've liked The Cure for a long time, so it was incredible to see them live. It started out a little rough (not because of the band, but the audience around me). I should've got seats on the ground level,  because sitting in the upper level was too far away and the audience (in the upper levels) were like statues. Honestly, I was expecting everybody to be on the ground level and standing up. But, overall it was great. After a while, people starting leaving, so I could get a better seat. Also, as time went on, it seemed like the band and audience became happier and more energetic.

"The Body Politic"

One of the most interesting short stories I've read recently is "The Body Politic" by Clive Barker. It can be found in the Books of Blood Volumes 4-6. For anyone that doesn't know, the Books of Blood are a collection of short horror stories.

Summary:

Charlie George sees himself as a normal person, nothing less and nothing more. But hidden from him, are the thoughts of his hands. Every night, while Charlie sleeps, they plan their escape. One night, Charlie awakes from his pleasant dream to find himself killing his wife. His hands, now in control of themselves, seek to remove themselves from him. Right, the leader, chops off Left to spread the message to hands all over town of life after separation. This revolution ends with the death of Charlie George and his Right hand. The story, however, ends on a rather uneasy note, the thought of another uprising of any part of the body.

Review:

One of the reasons I enjoyed reading this story is because it frightened me. Usually when reading short horror stories (by other authors), I've found that they're mostly weird (though still enjoyable), not really horrific. In contrast to those stories, Clive's can conjure up horrific images and situations. One of those stories is "The Body Politic." The thought of your hands (or any other part of your body) controlling itself is terrifying. And the thought that they would want to separate themselves to live a life of their own is even worse. One of the descriptions that I found really disturbing is the comparison of a severed bloodied hand to a red spider crawling around on the ground. I think this description has stayed in my mind, because a giant spider is scary enough on its own, but when you know it's actually a severed hand covered in blood and moving around, it just makes it even more terrifying.