Sinners

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While it could be said that the vampire thing has been done time and time again and is old news at this point, I think it could also be noted that this is an interesting and unique twist on the genre, once again showing that if only a bit of imagination is put behind these things, they don't have to come across as "typical." I suggest this isn't entirely a vampire movie, so much as some extension of blues lore. That's right. It's a music movie. And let's face it - music and horror are not realms often dabbled in together.

Let's start with a quick recap of Robert Johnson, a blues singer and songwriter. Legend has it that with his desire to become a great blues musician, he met up with the Devil himself at the crossroads near Dockery Plantation at midnight and sold his soul to succeed with a guitar. Although this story has no direct relation to that legend, it feels like a curt nod to it, as a LOT of it has to do with the combination of great music bringing in terrible evil. On top of that, we're talking about a similar time and place; 1930s Mississippi.

Identical twins and war veterans, "Smoke" and "Stack" (both portrayed by Michael B. Jordan) make their return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, after working in Chicago with hopes of opening a joke joint for the black community, using a generous sum of stolen money to purchase a sawmill. They also bring their cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton), into the mix, as he wishes to play for them and show off his incredible talent with a guitar, going against the wishes of his pastor Jedidiah (Saul Williams), who warns of the supernatural element of what music can do.

After a recruitment process that involves bringing in pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), singer Pearline (Jayme Lawson), Smoke's estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) as a cook, shopkeepers Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo (Yao) as suppliers, and a big guy named "Cornbread" (Omar Benson Miller) as a bouncer, the opening night eventually gets underway. Stack also reunites with his ex lover, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who isn't here quite as much as one might expect by the trailers, but I will say that this is one of her better acting jobs, overall.

The party goes into the night, and Sammie gets to perform, playing and singing his soul out. At this point, the film takes an incredible opportunity to show us a musical evolution as the camera pans through the sawmill, and we see a massive blend of music genres mashed up together. It's the best scene in the movie, contributing a sense of how, after all these years, music can bring together community in an almost supernatural way. That's what I got out of the scene. It's random, but it works incredibly well.

Back to the story, briefly, Sammie's music breaks the supernatural barrier, drawing a band of hungry vampires towards them, led by Irish immigrant Remmick (Jack O'Connell). In many ways, the situation turns into 'From Dusk 'Til Dawn' as a group of survivors, after the vampires show up, lock themselves in the sawmill and do their best to survive until morning. That sounds simpler than it should be, though, as it's when the vampires show up that the film takes off. Until then, it's a slow burn.

Any valid criticisms I have about the film are few and far between and, as usual, nit-picky. This is another one that will likely grow on me over time. Overall, I found it a little slow-moving, and when comparing it to 'Dusk 'Till Dawn,' it's the less action-packed of the two. However, I give the film full credit for trying something different with the vampire genre and entertaining me in many ways I didn't expect. So don't watch it just as a vampire movie because there's so much more to it regarding the music of the time and the characters involved. It was intriguing, to say the least.

4/5

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