Sinners (2025)

I found a great new theater. It's on a military base, but civilians are allowed to come. The place has the feel of an old neighborhood cinema, and the ticket price is always $5.99.

Best of all, during the weekday there is no one there. I mean nearly no one. I've been there four times so far, and I was the lone attendee for the first three movies I saw. There were a few others in the auditorium for Sinners. Thankfully they were very respectful.

I'm trying to see more new movies. I never wanted to become the cranky old guy, bemoaning the old days and decrying the newfangled crap being made now. It sneaks up on you. I'm trying to be open minded, but I'm not always successful.

I wasn't entirely thrilled by the first three. The Monkey is too silly and trivial for me to be a real fan. Opus blew chunks. The Woman in the Yard was creepy at first, but like other Blumlein productions the big finale was less than satisfying.

Now we have Sinners, which is getting more praise than just about any other recent horror movie I can think of. What was my take?

Well. I wish I could echo all the praise I'm seeing. The buildup in Sinners is marvelous. It's convincing, very well acted, and the cinematography is near breathtaking. The music is beautiful. The second half of the movie is Marvel-ous.

This may sound strange coming from a dyed-in-the-wool horror fanatic, but for me the vampires ruined Sinners. What came before is so good. By the time the bloodsuckers hit the juke joint, the movie seemed like a comic book adaptation. Well done, certainly, but for me it cheapened the strong opening.

I felt the same way about the primitive CGI-heavy second half of From Dusk till Dawn. I was having a great time with the crime parts. The clumsy effects turned me off.

Then there are the folksinging vampires in Sinners. They seemed like extras from A Mighty Wind. Pretty silly. The Ramboesque shootout finale had me shaking my head in disappointment.

The post credits sequence (this is modeled after a Marvel movie; of course there's a post credit sequence) was very nicely done. I felt it was a grace note to end the story. I wished for more quietly effective moments like it in the movie.

Maybe I'm too picky. After all, everyone seems to like Sinners. But then everyone seems to like Marvel movies.

I'm not giving up. I'm seeing The Shrouds and Cheech and Chong's Last Movie in the next week. Both have long legs in the movies and in my life, so they hardly count as modern cinema. I plan to see Until Dawn sometime after those two. I'm trying to be optimistic, but my hopes are definitely in check. I am even less inclined to like a video game adaptation than a comic book movie.

Written by Mark Sieber