I have seen this film twice and find it an extremely effective and absorbing thriller with a wonderfully creepy feel to it. It reminds me of the uneasy feeling I got watching "Silence of the Lambs." Like that film, "Night Sins" establishes a very sinister mood (in a snowy picturesque town) in the first few minutes and carries it through right to the end. Given a well presented film, I am not averse to an ambiguous ending, so the fact that everything wasn't all neatly tied up in the last few minutes was not a problem for me. Actually, I think it made the film's unsettling feel linger after the closing credits. I think the direction was tight and kept the story moving and engaging. The cast was quite good, especially the supporting players, with Karen Sillas a standout. Although I must admit that, much to my surprise, Bertinelli and Hamlin fared much better that I initially expected.
I just finished reading the book, and unlike many of my fellow critics I was somewhat disappointed. It was a good read, but I think some of the liberties and embellishments taken by the filmmakers actually improved the story and added to the unsettling atmosphere. I think Hoag spent a bit too much ink on the 'romance' between Mitch and Megan for my taste. And a few times the book felt like it was veering off into bodice-ripping territory. Given the brief time span of the book (less than 2 weeks) I found their passion a bit overstated and distracting from the mystery at hand. Every time they were making love or thinking about making love or trying to avoid making love, it broke the mood for me and as a result the suspense lagged. And the oft-seen device of the brooding, troubled cop/detective/investigator is something of a cliché. The abridged coupling in the film was short and sweet, served a good dramatic purpose and was more believable as it offered the side story of two people attracted to each other without disrupting the momentum of the plot. I think the addition of the old 8mm home movie of the killers in their youth and the very creepy voice over worked extremely well. And the Deacon's story was visualized very disturbingly. If only Hoag had written his sections with the same enthusiasm as the passionate Mitch/Megan interludes. In all fairness, I have not yet read Hoag's "Guilty As Sin", the follow-up to "Night Sins", so I might find some more of the film's detail there. Again, I want to say that the book was very good, but my expectation of it being one of those suspenseful books that you just can't put down was never realized.
I'd love to have this on DVD.
