Starring: AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz
Director: Ti West
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 100 minutes
Film: 1.5 out of 5 stars
Honestly, I am really starting to get a fed up with horror films that are found footage. I was watching this film and watching the clock and just waiting for something to happen. I waited 45 minutes and still nothing scary or even remotely disturbing occurred yet. In fact, I found myself rather bored. I understand it is cheaper for these indie directors to make a film via the found footage route but I think that this style has really getting very old.
The film follows a fashion photographer who gets a message from his sister, who was traveling out of the country in order to quit her drug habit, to meet her at a place called Eden Parish. Accompanying him on the trip are his his friends who work for magazine Vice, who comes to get the story. But when they get there and start meeting and interviewing the people whom live there, they find that this may not be the peaceful community and safe haven that it is said to be.
The rest why I wanted to see “The Sacrament” is because it was directed by Ti West, who was responsible for some pretty cool horror flicks like “The House of the Devil” and “The Innkeepers”. I liked his style but I feel that this film was a real step backwards for him. When you see what he did with a film like “House of the Devil”, setting up that creepy vibe and then delivering a killer payoff, this film is just such a let down. This film is not like that at all.
I can honestly appreciate a slow burn horror film but this was not that at all. Absolutely nothing happens for the first 80 minutes and they try and throw in some shock value but nothing too shocking and definitely not scary. I still have hope for Ti West because I know he is a talented young director and we will see him do much better things in the future…but this is definitely not one of them. I recommend you go watch “The House of the Devil” and skip this for sure.