One of the most thrilling and rare forms of horror films is what I think of as the “switch-flip” — a story that begins as a drama or thriller, only to pivot midway into full-blown horror. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho remains the original and perhaps finest example; other standouts include Takashi Miike’s Audition and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, where two fugitives find themselves battling vampires inside a desert saloon. Rodriguez’s film kept resurfacing in my mind while I watched Sinners, the latest from writer-director Ryan Coogler — another vampire story that reveals its true nature gradually. When the shift finally happens, though, the full brilliance of Coogler’s work becomes unmistakably clear.
The fact that Sinners is a vampire film isn’t exactly a secret. The movie’s marketing lays that groundwork early, and the story itself kicks off with a prologue hinting that something supernatural is on the horizon. Still, the slow, careful build of the script caught me off guard: What begins as a compelling period piece set in the Jim Crow–era South gradually transforms into a haunting confrontation. With Creed and the Black Panther films, Ryan Coogler proved himself a master of injecting fresh energy into major franchises. Yet it’s the clever, measured approach of Sinners that may mark his most thrilling work to date.
About The Author
