Ryan Coogler has always pushed the boundaries of any given genre. Black Panther is more than a superhero movie, Creed is more than a sports drama — and his latest film, Sinners, is more than a vampire thriller. The horror film is a crowd-pleasing, densely-layered story about a myriad of subjects, from the burden of the supernaturally gifted artist and the fear of “selling out,” to the nuances behind colonization. It’s fitting, then, that Coogler poured so many of his disparate influences into the film, citing everything from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish to a deep-cut episode of The Twilight Zone.
“Truthfully, the biggest influences are not in cinema,” Coogler explained in an interview with SciFiNow. “The novel Salem’s Lot is a massive influence on the film. Then there’s a real deep-cut influence. My favorite thing ever made is The Twilight Zone, and my favorite episode is called ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank.’”
Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone may be the most influential TV series of all time, and with over 150 episodes, it’s naturally inspired countless directors. It’s easy to see why Coogler counts himself among the genre filmmakers influenced by the series. “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” takes a subversive approach to the supernatural: like Sinners, it deals with the idea of demons and vampires, but it uses their existence to poke at the fears that so many have indulged in over the years.
“The Last Rites” premiered in the third season of The Twilight Zone, taking audiences on a journey to the 1920s. In a small town in the southern Midwest, we meet Jeff Myrtlebank, who comes back to life during his own funeral. The details of his resurrection remain a total mystery to the town physician, much to the fear and distrust of his family and friends. Though he’s welcomed back with open arms, Jeff’s parents insist he’s come back a different man. Not even his fiancée seems to trust him entirely, causing nasty rumors to spread throughout their community.
When the neighborhood gathers to confront Jeff at the end of the episode, they’re convinced that he’s a “haint,” a kind of evil spirit that possesses the bodies of the recently deceased to walk the Earth as it pleases. Haints are referenced directly in Sinners, when the Hoodoo healer Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) is working to identify the malevolent presence right outside their door. Later she learns that the devil at their door is actually a vampire, prompting her to lead the charge against an army of bloodsuckers.
Surprisingly, The Twilight Zone never confirms just what (if anything) Jeff has turned into. Though he admits that he’s being “treated like a vampire,” he insists that he’s the same man he’s always been. That paves the way for a few spookier hijinks, along with the kind of cliffhanger designed to get people talking. “The Last Rites” never reaches an altercation as bloody or brutal as the one we see in Sinners, but it does provide an intriguing foundation for Coogler’s latest film, one founded on lesser-known Southern folklore and a community’s wary paranoia.
