Sinister

starring: katie featherson, kathryn newton

director: henry joost, ariel schulman

It’s pretty hard to find a decent horror movie nowadays without noticing clichéd and overused tropes. Themes like the haunted house, evil spirits, possessed children and the newly popularized “found footage” are everywhere. Sinister, directed by Scott Derrickson, is a successful yet daunting fusion of all these horror film standbys.

Written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, the screenplay is believable and doesn’t fall into the genre’s trap of attempting to scare you at predictable moments. The jumpy thrills are, in fact, unexpected and happen exactly when they need to. The atmosphere is mostly dark, which is one of my complaints about the cinematography because it’s hard to make out what’s happening at times. Nonetheless, it does fit the mental state of the main character.

Played by the underrated Ethan Hawke, Ellison Oswalt is an author of best-selling true crime books. Obsessed with fame and success, Oswalt seems to be living a lie as he tries to convince his family and himself that he is writing for good. Unable to let go of his attachment to images, he seems to be possessed by them, as he obsessively studies them for further validation. This is the game of the classic tale of Faustus: by accepting the devil’s offer, the demonized victims play by sinister rules. Oswalt and Faustus both become victims of evil in order to achieve material success.

The music is perfect for the setting. As the story follows Oswalt’s investigation into his new home’s horrific history, there are few locations in the film besides this seemingly perfect place for a loving family. The score, mostly slow yet unnerving ambient sounds, builds to a mind-shattering climax that resembles a madman’s final break with reality. I think Trent Reznor would feel at home with this film’s soundtrack.

But what affected me the most are the movies within the movie itself. Oswalt finds a series of short films stored away in an attic, labelled with cute little monikers given by what seems to be innocent children. However, as you’ll notice right from the opening credits, they are a family’s hell: all the videos are snuff films - recordings of the murders of happy families.

Sinister fantastically fuses realist drama with the found footage genre, fitting the movie into the postmodern niche called “metafiction.” We, the audience, are in the same position as the protagonist as we both watch the snuff films. As such, there is no distinction between ourselves and Oswalt, and whatever horrors he experiences are our own.

Sinister is horror film at its finest.

Four stars out of five.

Marco Filice

Just a little after seven o’clock on Saturday, Oct. 13, I walked into the Citadel Theater on Rebecca Street. All around me were warm handshakes, conversations and wishes of good fortune. The program of the evening’s event, “McMaster 24hr Film Fest,” or M24, is a collection of fifteen short films selected for the competition. There are awards for first, second and third place, and also Best Performance and Audience Choice.

M24’s main goal was to out to the extended Hamilton community. Mac’s film fest would not have been possible without the help of volunteers, especially support from the School of Graduate Studies, the McMaster Student Union, and the President’s Office. I was reminded of Dr. Patrick Deane’s commencement as McMaster University President. In an inspiring document, Forward with Integrity, he invited you, as an integral part of Mac, to be creative with your connection to the community. In any way possible, you have the opportunity to do what you love and reach out to others. The idea is to create networks and strengthen them for a fruitful future. Such is the prideful new vision of McMaster University. Such is the purpose of M24.

Hosted by the Lyons New Media Center, the short film competition showcased movies edited within the LNMC’s technologically innovative laboratory on the fourth floor of Mills Library. Indeed, the films did have the appearance of professional grade production, and I could only imagine how hard it was for the judges to decide on the winners.

The first place prize, Blinded, features the story of a blind man with nothing to live for, yet he turns his life around after a chance encounter with a homeless person. Yousif Kellow, Faculty of Health Sciences, plays the role of the blind man and also won Best Performance.

The second place prize was given to McMaster staff and students, and their film Hunter is the story of a woman pursuing a dark figure through the streets of Hamilton after receiving a mysterious note.

And the third place winner, which also won the Audience Choice award, is a comical piece called You Only Draw Once, created by Humanities students. It follows a McMaster student who happens upon a magic pencil that makes his illustrations come to life.

The remaining finalists were given the opportunity to exhibit their filmmaking skills. And interestingly enough, the competition drew people from all backgrounds, whether it be McMaster alumni or staff.

This year’s M24 is the first annual event. In the upcoming years, the organizers at LNMC hope to expand the film fest by making a tradition. I could only imagine how it might look like in the near future. So if you, as a returning student, staff member, or alumni, are thinking of putting something up on the cinematic screen with your friends, this is your opportunity.

Pete Travis’s Dredd is a good example of both relentless violence and the evolution of action movies. Screenwriter Alex Garland moves beyond the boundaries of the genre to bring one of the bleakest comics ever made to the screen in just fashion. John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, the creators of the comic 2000 A.D. (which first featured Judge Dredd), would surely approve.

Today’s Dredd is a reboot of the already comic-adapted Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stalonne. The old Judge Dredd got abused by critics, but it’s a classic example of the previous era of action movies built from chiselled bodies and cheesy one-liners. Today, we have 3D, CGI, and “slo-mo,” which we all remember from The Matrix. But in Dredd, slo-mo is actually a by-product of the flawed future, a city-plaguing drug that impedes order and progress. In the residential block, reminiscent of Dante’s circles of hell, Peach Trees is a hive for the narcotic. By inhaling a puffer, you experience time at a microfraction of a second. While experience may be enhanced, bodily functions take a hit. For the movie-goer, it makes for some mesmerizing shots that are as visually appealing as Zack Snyder’s 300.

Mega City 1, the municipal territory between Boston and Washington D.C., is a hellish place. Beyond the borders is a wasteland, and inside its walls is not much better. Crime is the rule of life, and Judges are the last remnants of order. They uphold and administer the law from their very bodies; they sentence  or give capital punishment at the scene of the crime. Karl Urban as Dredd is a bit hard to relate to, and as the leading Judge of the story, he is a cold, yet rational deliverer of justice.

Music can either make or break a movie, a point recently made by Josie Dye on the radio station 102.1 the Edge. Although the soundtrack doesn’t need to save Dredd, the mixture of techno, dark industrial, and death metal definitely amplifies the awesomeness that already exists. On its own, the music could be the soundtrack to a nightmare. But in Dredd it helps choreograph the action sequences as if they were inspired by slasher horror. The action genre has never been so chilling.

The terrifying Ma-Ma (played by Lena Headey), establishes herself as the rightful queen and mother of the future’s saviour and dominates her screen time with sheer force. Yet don’t be fooled, because she isn’t an inspiring heroine. Instead she represents all that is wrong with Mega City 1. Bestial, sinister and unforgiving in her stature, Ma-Ma brings the future a tormented past, overpowering the weak with stimulants and unleashing havoc on an overburdened justice system. The war in the city becomes the occasion for her personal war.

The futuristic setting of Mega City 1 represents a possible outcome of today’s society, demonstrating the connection between technology and speed that philosopher Paul Virilio talks about. Today, everything is instantaneous, and speed has become a very human quality. In Dredd even the law becomes instantaneous, rendering the judicial process arbitrary and null.

You can decide which is scarier: the fascist practice of instant justice or the apocalyptic landscape that makes it a necessity.

3 ½ / 5

- Marco Filice

Marco Filice

J. Edgar

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio

A heavy-set mood will discomfort the viewers of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar. Portraying the broken memories of an aged John Edgar Hoover, Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay flows with guilt-ridden narratives. As the plot transitions mercilessly between time frames with little warning, this quality of a senior in regret makes the film a psychological character study of the passed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Leonardo DiCaprio’s convincing role as Hoover edifies this troubling persona. And, to be honest, relaying the story to you is just as troubling. Yet this is what makes J. Edgar a good movie.

By witnessing the major sequences of his life as they spring to his mind, the audience learns about J. Edgar only as he wants you to know him. It begins when Hoover was just a young man and an attempt is made on the life of his boss, Mitchell Palmer. Tom Stern’s beautiful yet daunting cinematography of Washington D.C.’s evening landscape reminds the audience of current global issues as the city burns under multiple terrorist attacks.

Indeed, just as this terror is set in the background at the movie’s outset, the image impresses itself in the back of our minds throughout the film’s duration. And no matter how unethical Hoover’s tactics show to be, we can’t help but agree with him. As such, his arguments against his opponents stress one unnerving fact: that war can, at any time, hit home.

Many of the memory scenes recount Hoover’s triumphant cases. There is an ongoing narrative concerning the political kidnapping of a wealthy aviator’s infant son. Hoover is diligent to remind his peers that the federal government must up the ante on its crime fighting strategy. As this particular case pans out tragically, Hoover’s message gloats an unfortunate reality. Toward the conclusion, Eastwood choreographs a beautiful montage sequence of Hoover’s psyche: “when morals decline, and good men do nothing, evil flourishes.” Case after case, Hoover proves to be not only ruthless against crime, but a social visionary.

Although he is steadfast against crime, Hoover is no hero. He is impatient, jealous when others are credited and even willing to taint the news. A famous example is the hunt and killing of John Dillinger. Hearing about Melvin Purvis’ success, Hoover is indignant and orders that the honoured agent be terminated from the FBI, so to take the credit himself. In the end, Hoover had taken truth as a commodity to exploit and promoted justice in the FBI synonymously with his own name.

DiCaprio transcends drama and moves into the territory of the educational. His depiction is simply convincing as the Director of the FBI. He is handsome, yet awkward. He demands respect, yet is vulnerable to ridicule. His role makes it clear to the audience that talking about Hoover is as problematic as the man himself. Such is the reason that describing the film’s plot is as relevant as analyzing DiCaprio’s performance.

Embodying Hoover’s dispersed memories, DiCaprio does history a service by acting against the his egoistic and deluded intent: Hoover was no hero, but a flawed, yet passionate, human being. I judge the film to be the same.