'Sinners' Review- A Vampire Flick With A Blues Twist
Ryan Coogler brings the gore.
Sinners is a historical horror film directed, written, and co-produced by Ryan Coogler. It was made by Proximity Media and released by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Twin brothers Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) purchase an old saw mill to turn into a juke joint in 1932, Mississippi. They recruit their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) to perform, despite his preacher father, Jedidiah (Saul Williams), warns him not to attend.
As the night begins, everything seems to be going well, even after Stack’s white-passing ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) arrives. As the night falls, a mysterious Irish visitor called Remmick (Jack O'Connell) appears, wanting in, even offering gold. However, it soon becomes clear that Remmick is a vampire who wants to sing and dance.
Cinephiles like me have been begging Hollywood to do something original. Not a sequel, remake, or a reboot, but an original story. Coogler heeded that call and delivered a vampire film that exceeded all expectations.
There were only two issues with the movie. One, it takes forty-five minutes before we even see a vampire. An early tease would have been nice. Second, there was this really bizarre scene in the juke joint where a bunch of modern performers appear. A DJ, a rapper, a hip-hop artist, a twerker, and, for some reason, a Chinese dancer appear. It took you out of the moment.
Outside of that, the plot is a solid horror film that uses the bigotry of its historical era as a backdrop. It did not hit you over the head with politics, but used real history to develop its characters and narrative, never slowing it down.
The time period definitely made it more frightening. A cunning vampire who is not a caricature, but a sinister force of nature who with a bloodlust. The protagonists are morally ambiguous, but you never waver in your desire to see them survive, and trust me, you question if they will. Coogler keeps the Vampire lore in line, and that makes it scarier. I appreciated his attention to detail when discussions of the “rules” about the undead came about.
It is rounded out by its cast, who do a phenomenal job. Jordan plays the twins to the point where you can tell them apart. I never once questioned who was portraying at the time, and he never gets it twisted. O’Connell is fantastic, bringing on the terror as a vampire who is not motivated by bigotry, but by a desire to grow his “family.”
I will also pour praise on the rest of the cast. Besides those mentioned above, Wunmi Mosaku portrays Smokes’ girlfriend, who knows about the horrors they face. Delroy Lindo plays Delta Slim, a musician who is caught in the middle. They only added to the dynamic, making the movie even more frightening.
Bottom line, Sinners is the original Hollywood film you were waiting for. With a terrifying premise and an excellent cast, you shudder, but do not look away as Vampires invade a private event.
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Sexual content, Gory violence, Strong foul language, Disturbing sequences, Substance abuse
FAVORITE QUOTE: You keep dancing with the devil... one day he's gonna follow you home.
Check out the trailer below:
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