Review: The Secret of Sinchanee

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

The Secret of Sinchanee
Directed by Steven Grayhm
Truth Entertainment; Team House Studios; High Octane Pictures; Vertical Entertainment
115 minutes, 2021
https://teamhousestudios.com/

It is quite common for a genre film to have a prologue. In fact, it’s hard to find one that does not, and this one is a bit longer than most, setting up for what will happen later on (a side note: I admired the commitment of a person in the scene in a deep and dark December), with placards informing us about the rivalry between the fictional mixed American Indian/First Nation tribe of Sinchanee, and the also fictional rival pagan (i.e., witches) followers of Atlantow (aka the spirit of death).

In the opening, it’s 1995 and we are introduced to a family and a stone arrowhead that will surely be significant later (or else why would it be here, eh wot?).

Steven Grayhm

Post-credits, in The Present, we are introduced to the protagonist of the piece, an insomnia-burdened industrial tow truck driver named Will (director Steven Grayhm, giving off a Mark Wahlberg vibe), who has just inherited his late estranged father’s house in Deerfield, a town in northwestern Massachusetts; I often used to pass it on Interstate 91 on my way to Vermont soon after the prologue took place. This house is more like a cabin in the middle of the woods, miles from anywhere. But it is where Will grew up.

It is also where he witnessed a brutal murder. There were lots of suspects, such as his schizophrenic father (Chris Neville) and some lost soul (Don McAlister) hiding out in the house’s shed. This all takes place in the dead of winter, past and present, and a safe place out of the cold is important.

In the now, people are starting to die in the area, a mother and a daughter pair, and two ex-married detectives, Carrie (Tamara Austin) and toxic-masculinity-infused Drew (Nate Boyer; he also played with the Seattle Seahawks), who share a daughter Ava (television starlet Laila Lockhart Kraner) are on the case that seems to bring them into the realm of Will.

Meanwhile Will’s world is getting more and more haunted by spirits that seem to lean increasingly towards the malevolent. Is it from his lack of sleep and dreaming when he sees and hears odd and scary things, or has the veil parted and worlds are colliding? And who is the mysterious Jesus-like figure Solomon Goodblood (Rudy Reyes); will he live up to his name or be a trickster?

Over time we worry about Will’s – er – will to fight for his own sanity, and how it affects those around him, especially as Detective Carrie is ever deeper drawn into his world. This is a domain of supernatural evil, that is beyond poltergeists. It has a mission.

This film is mostly a slow burn, albeit beautiful to view. There is long, sweeping side-to-side shots (dolly or steadi-cam) or slow, lingering close-ups that add to the mood. The film is pretty dark in moments, and the use of lighting seems to be more natural illumination and tones than, say, high contrast or lens of primary colors, which sometimes gets overused. There is also some really nice drone work, soaring over roads, old barns and farm houses. The shots of shadow-work during a teepee scene were impressive.

Tamara Austin

There is no doubt about it, the film is long at an hour and forty-five minutes, but I have to say, even with some tightening to make it shorter, it was a decent enough looking film to keep my interest, and enough characters to keep me intrigued, but not too much to get cumbersome. Also, the acting was better than most. With its lack of comedy (oh, it is dead serious), there is less over-emoting and more of a sincerity (see below).

There is some violence, but most of it off-screen. This could easily play on broadcast television due to lack of blood and no nudity. But it is also anxiety-building, with some jump scares and people and things popping in and out. During the slower, roaming shots, as people search through the house and woods beyond, make sure to pay attention and check out the spaces behind the characters.

I am impressed that this film’s Team House group hires ex-military behind and in front of the camera, including 10 veterans and 1 Gold Star sister. This includes Boyer, who was Special Forces {Green Beret), and Reyes, of the Marine First Reconnaissance Battalion (Special Forces), both of whom saw action in the Middle East. Thank you all for your service.

This is the Ontario Director’s fourth feature, though he has appeared as an actor in many others’ releases. This film can be viewed as a chance to be a showcase for him, but this goes beyond that in showing talent for filmmaking proper. It nicely uses his own mixed Indigenous heritage of Weskarini Alogonquin First Nation people of La Petite Nation as credence to a story based on a spiritual focus. Luckily, he is talented on both sides of the camera.

This could easily be seen as fitting into the haunted house genre, but it is actually quite more than that, by mixing in the Indigenous elements that give the film more gravitas. The story is solid drama, without watering it down with humor. It stays true to the world it creates, and that improves the story.

So, while I normally do not give spoilers I will say this: the dog is fine in the end. Also, stick around for the epilogue (or, as I like to call it, post-ilogue) for a no-surprise tie-up that really was necessary anyway, so I am glad it was included.