The Sacrament (2013) Directed by Ti West
This movie has shaky cam! Ok now that I lost half of my readers, which is really probably only like 2 people, now I can continue. I have heard mix reviews about this movie, some of the guys on slashercast loved it while another disliked it. I usually agree with these guys and their opinions so I thought I would give it a watch. The movie had a 3.5 star rating for me on Netflix, so I figured what the hell, I’ll probably like it. I’m probably going to have a more conversational tone in this, because that’s just my writing style and I fee like I’ve been trying to sound professional, which isn’t me. So expect cursing, odd references and lots of contractions that are probably not correct but who cares haha.
A photographer and his buddies travel to find his sister, in a utopian, drug free community. They decide to make the experience a documentary topic for Vice, a company that focuses on political and social topics. They travel to the undisclosed location by chopper; the pilot says he’ll leave with or without them the next day. A couple guards appear and get pissed when they see film crew, expecting only Patrick, Caroline’s brother and main character. They contact “father” the leader who allows them to enter.
Once inside the commune they get meet Caroline, Patrick’s sister and she gives them the tour. She shows them to a cabin and continues on with just Patrick. The other guys interview a few of the commune’s residents, they tell their stories and speak of how the father has rescued them and they love their lives. The nurse Wendy shows them the medical building that is full stocked with medication, bought with the money of the members selling their possessions. The filmmakers a skeptical about how things are there, but they figure everyone seems happy so who the fuck cares.
Caroline arranges an interview with the father, and Sam gets a list of questions ready to ask. Father only agrees to interview during a public meeting. Father is an old southerner, kind of looks like a guy you would see sitting at a coffee shop bullshitting with his old timer friends and staring at any one under the age of 60 that walks in to get breakfast. The interview is rather dull, Father tip toes around the questions and really doesn’t offer much for answers. He kind of threatens Sam, mentioning his pregnant wife that Sam only told Wendy earlier. It shakes Sam and he fumbles around and looks like an idiot the rest of the interview, Father cuts the interview short and the people go ape shit bananas. Why they explode in applause is beyond me, the guy just “answered” some questions. The people then celebrate the evening with a party.
During the party a small girl passes a note to Sam asking him to help her. The guys discover a group of the followers that want to leave, saying they are abused and brainwashed. BIG SURPRISE! I mean the father is a creepy old hillbilly that obviously has a fair amount of charisma for the weak and idiotic. They don’t want to get involved, which I don’t blame them. Patrick gets pulled into a threesome with two ladies, way to go Patrick! The other two guys find a drunken or high Caroline that says they need Patrick’s money. The father comes out and gives more threats towards the guys and they leave.
In the morning they find the group of people wanting to leave insist that they rescue the little girl. Jake goes to the chopper (insert Arnold voice if you must) to delay its departure. The pilot is a dick and refuses to help, gunshots are fired and Jake runs off into the woods. He comes back to the chopper to find the pilot has been shot, and he tells Jake to get the others. Sam attempts to break up a fight and the guards attack him. Caroline yells at him and they take him hostage. Father talks all the sheep into drinking cyanide laced Kool-Aid, original…I know. Anyone who refuses to drink the Kool-Aid is shot dead. Jake returns to find almost everyone dead. Patrick is also held hostage and Caroline injects him with the Kool-Aid and he dies. Jake finds Caroline and she refuses to leave, then she lights herself on fire, probably the craziest thing in the movie. Jake finds the little girl and her mother hiding. The mother slits the girls throat, which is intense as hell. I like when movies have the balls to kill kids, bravo. The guards shoot the mother and kill her, while Jake hides. Jake confronts Father, while Sam is bound to a chair. Father snorts some coke then shoots himself. One of the defectors shoots a guard and they escape in the chopper.
I think my review might be more interesting than the movie itself. Man was this thing slow! The movie builds and builds, almost promising a crazy ass ending, but instead we get the cliché cult ending where they drink Kool-Aid and die. I was really disappointed in this movie; Ti West usually brings it, also its produced by Eli Roth. Eli fuckin’ Roth produced it! With a team like that you’d expect it to be awesome but man was I just bored during this. It was predicable and drawn out. Father was creepy, but not menacing at all. If you have seen any movie of this sort you can see what is going to happen. In some parts the shaky cam pissed me off, when the guy is running through the woods and all I can see is trees, I had to look away. I found myself drifting off into the world of Madden Mobile on my iphone several times. I found clipping my puppy’s toenails more fascinating than the middle of this movie. While the acting was alright and the idea was decent, it just didn’t bring anything different to the table and I wanted some more crazy stuff to happen. If I wanted to watch a cult movie, I’d either watch the “Safe Haven” segment from VHS 2 or even Red State by Kevin Smith. I wouldn’t suggest this movie unless you must watch every Ti West movie. My grade is a D, like I said it was boring as all hell, but not so awful that I hated myself afterwards. Find something else on Netflix to watch instead of this boring 1hr 39min feels like 3hrs movie. I suggest you just watch VHS and VHS2, they’re both on Netflix and they’re great.
