SINNERS: Blues, Booze & Bloodsuckers

SINNERS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 137 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Normally, I don’t really care about how good or bad a movie does at the box office. However, I was truly rooting for Sinners to become a blockbuster. Now that it is one, maybe Hollywood will get the hint that not every big-budget film needs to have superheroes, be a remake or have a Roman numeral in the title. 

Better yet, it’s a horror film, one that breathes new life into a subgenre that ceased being scary a long time ago. Sinners may ostensibly be a vampire film, but there’s so much more going on - both visually and thematically - that it transcends such a label. Part horror, part musical, part historical drama, the movie is thrilling, sexy, bloody, atmospheric and sometimes surprisingly heart-rending. 

The premise is certainly original. Taking place in the deep south in 1932, the Smokestack Twins (both played by Michael B. Jordan) are a couple of enterprising gangsters who return home from Chicago to open a juke joint. What makes Sinners almost immediately engaging is the amount screen time spent establishing these two characters, as well as most of the supporting ones. The most significant of them is their impressionable cousin, Sammie, an budding blues guitarist they recruit to play that night. At the same time, the film immerses the viewer in the setting, culture and music of the era.

In fact, it’s a full 45 minutes before any actual horror creeps into the narrative, when a seemingly congenial Irishman, Remmick, turns out to be a vampire who attacks a couple of Klan members. By the time the joint opens for a raucous opening night party, we’re fully invested in all of these characters and their relationships. The juke joint sequences feature terrific musical numbers, highlighted by a surreal, visually jawdropping montage depicting the evolution of black music - from past to future - in a single extended shot. But because we’ve been made aware of Remmick’s presence, a growing sense of dread underscores the celebration.

Stack gets the cool hat.

The real horror begins when Remmick and recently-turned victims set their sights on those inside the joint, with a particular interest in Sammie (it’s suggested his music may have actually summoned Remmick). What I like about the film’s depiction of vampires is they aren’t complete monsters. Remmick’s Irish cultural leanings are almost as charming they are unnerving (presented through a musical number where his growing legion of bloodsuckers reveal a shared mind).

Jordan is outstanding in a dual role, giving each brother distinct personalities (yet both are tough and intimidating), while Wunmi Mosaku also stands out as Smoke’s love interest and voodoo expert. But really, the entire cast is great. Writer-director Ryan Coogler has put together an smart, tension-filled and emotionally resonant folk horror film that comes to an unexpected conclusion (with a wonderful post-credits scene). If not one of the best horror movies of the last ten years, it’s certainly the best vampire movie.

Though best experienced on the big screen, Sinners looks and sounds outstanding on Blu-ray. The transfer also includes sequences that are presented in a different aspect ratio than the theatrical version, which was apparently Coogler's intention all along for the home video release.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners is an excellent 30-minute doc featuring writer-director Ryan Coogler and some of the cast; Blues in the Night: The Music of Sinners covers both the score and musical set-pieces; Thicker Than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins shows how special effects and costuming allowed Jordan to play both roles; Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners goes into the vampire and gore effects; Spirits in the Deep South is a short doc about history of Hoodoo in the region where the movie is set..

DELETED SCENES - Almost 20 minutes’ worth.

DIGITAL COPY