Review of Sadgati (1981) by Conner R — 24 May 2011
Deliverance is one of those movies that is sadly only remembered by most for one line of dialogue and not for its mastery of suspense and manipulation of viewer expectations. Much like its fellow 70s evil hillbilly movies, this sets out to essentially let you know that trusting anyone is a bad idea.
This goes a lot deeper than say Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre though because it's not a straight-forward horror movie. You're not expecting to find psychotic rapists/killers in a story about four friends going canoeing.
John Boorman uses a lot of his vague wideshots here and it's extremely unsettling and perfect for the style trying to be achieved. The power of John Voight and a gung-ho Burt Reynolds only add to the already unforgettable nature of this movie.
It is completely unmatched in terms of manipulating expectations, creating an established group of characters and then completely changing the pace. A lot of people will somehow miss the excellence of this because it's difficult to get on a casual glance.
It's not a fun type of movie, but a work of art among Man Movies.
This review of Sadgati (1981) was written by Conner R on 24 May 2011.
Sadgati has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
