‘The secret is buried within’
The Secret of Sinchanee is a 2021 American horror film about two homicide detectives investigating the disappearance of a single mother.
Written, directed by and co-starring Steven Grayhm. Produced by Charles Arthur Berg, Nate Boyer, Lynn K. D’Angona and Steven Grayhm. The movie also stars Laila Lockhart Kraner, Rudy Reyes, Tamara Austin and Mark Oliver.
Plot:
An industrial tow truck driver suffering from insomnia returns to his childhood home after the untimely death of his father, to discover that a paranormal presence has been living in the house and haunting the sacred land it was built on.
Writer-director Steven Grayhm has commented: “This is a deeply personal film that tackles incredibly challenging themes of xenophobia, childhood trauma, and mental health issues, testing the confines of the horror/thriller genre.”
Reviews:
“The Secret of Sinchanee has the best of intentions, but does not really know how to execute its ideas in the best possible way. Dark hallways and jump scares can only do so much at this point in the game […] Horror should be compelling, exciting, thought-provoking and scary. Not boring and stale.” Fiction Horizon
“The performances, characterizations, and suspenseful filmmaking are admirable, even if the simplistic execution of the story causes the whole to be less than the sum of its parts. There are nuggets of greatness that don’t fully blossom, but they serve the film well regardless.” Loud and Clear
“For me, I found the good acting to almost be to the detriment of the somewhat more goofy story of possessed people and a demonic little girl dressed as a ballerina. Despite my issues, this looked lovely on film and was the type of slow-burning and quiet movie that would be perfect to watch close to bedtime due to a certain kind of hypnotic charm.” The Rotting Zombie
“A very interesting thriller that starts out as your usual serial killer story but gradually shifts into supernatural horror, but in a way that it makes sense, narratively. And a deliberately slow pace only helps the film’s plot to stay on course, as does a direction that relies on subtlety rather than spectacle, while a fine ensemble keep things grounded.” Search My Trash
” …it has several good scenes scattered through it. But they get lost in all the extraneous material and poor plot choices. Grayhm has potential as a filmmaker, but he needs to learn to control his ambition as well as edit his writing and what he shoots. At ninety minutes this could have been an engaging thriller. Blown out to a hundred and fifteen it’s a mess that will have you hitting fast forward.” Voices from the Balcony
Release date:
In the US, Vertical Entertainment will release The Secret of Sinchanee on Digital HD and On- Demand on October 8, 2021.
Cast and characters:
Laila Lockhart Kraner … Ava Donovan
Steven Grayhm … Will Stark
Rudy Reyes … Solomon Goodblood
Tamara Austin … Detective Carrie Donovan
Mark Oliver … Atlantow (voice)
Margarita Reyes … Monica Coojan
Kathleen Kenny … Cayley
Chris Neville … Herman Stark
Elena Capaldi … Emerson
Nate Boyer … Detective Drew Carter
Ricky Barksdale … Detective Coleman
Jacob Schick … Sean Maguire
Alexa Luippold … Grace Stark
Skylar Schanen … Jade
Donna Tierney-Jones … Female Trustee
Don McAlister … Wayne Codder
Jesse Goddard … Ms Farber
TJ Millard … Detective O’Mally
Bryanna Nadeau … Kai
Trystyn Roberts … Caleb
Emmett Spriggs … Young Will Stark
Raquel Lindemann-Ngyuen … Enola Stark
Filming locations:
Deerfield, Erving and Turners Falls, Massachusetts
Technical details:
115 minutes
Trailer:
