Review of The Sacrament (2014) by Dillinger P — 29 Sep 2014

After a total bombardment of found footage films over the past few years, you'd be forgiven for not even wanting to show an iota of care for the sacrament. However to do so, would be a shame, as horror affictionados and film fans alike are in for a treat and what could possibly be Ti West's best film to date.

Yes it has its problems but its premise, simple yet powerful and its execution, bloody and raw yet pollitical manages to craft a wonderfully horrid watch, that horror fans have been waiting for from this genre since Rec 2.

2 documentarians from Vice Channel, Jake and Sam decide to document their friend's Patrick's visit to "Eden Parish" a cult like paradise, where Patrick's ex junkie sister has resided.

Once they arrive however things take a turn for the ugly and before you know it, well, lets just say with these sorts of films, you can kind of tell whats coming round the corner. The magic of this found footage film is its attempt to emulate Vice not pass it off as Vice, making it much more dangerous in its story telling's.

You are a lot more forgiving of small mishaps with camera and placement than you would be with a film trying to completely pass itself of a real. By the opening credits, you know these are actors but in true testament to this film is pulls of some pretty good performances.

Especially Father, the head of the cult, yes hes nothing new in the world of characters and his sinister side can be seen a mile away but his ability to lure and brainwash while make some facinating political points not only make the actor shine but Ti West's script, which is perfect for what he is trying to achieve.

He nails the style of Vice perfectly and you just completely forget at times your watching a fictional film, even when its glaringly shows you time after time that it is fictional. Ti is also not in anyway scared to show you things, horrible things, that other found footage movies shake the camera around like a lunatic, in order to mask up effects.

No here people are being poisoned, set on fire, shot and foaming out the mouth right in front of you and its pretty visceral stuff. Like most found footage films, it also comes with a usual line of cliches, for example the lead character running for his life, with his camera.

I know we wouldnt have a film without it, but moments in this movie you really are like, dude fuck the camera just go. Other small things to nit pick at are the colour of the blood seems a little orange for my liking and it kind of winds up leaving your asking the question, could we have got more thematically from this.

Despite these minor set backs however, this film is intense, brutal and show promise to a directors future.