Director: Ti West
Starring: Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, AJ Brown
My Rating: Liked It
The Story: A couple of "vice" journalists venture to Eden Parrish, a small self-sustained utopian community, to document their friend's journey to find his sister. At the center of this community is a man only referred to as "Father." Quickly the guests realize that things aren't at all what they seem.
My thoughts: If you know anything about recent horror, you know that Ti West is very much at the center of the up and comers in the genre. With such titles as The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, and a segment in the first V/H/S, Mr. West is already a very well respected director. While The Sacrament isn't my favorite of these aforementioned flicks, it is still a showcase for the skills of this talented young movie maker.
The one main thing that holds the movie back is that everyone and their brother knows what is going to happen at the end, after all it is based off of a true story. And if you know about utopian society cults such as this one, you will have a pretty solid idea of where it's going. The movie builds quite nicely, but since I knew what was about to happen, I felt the climax, while still very tense and insane, was a little flat. It's simply more exciting if you get hit with something you don't expect. I have a few gripes with parts of the story, but I don't want to give every single thing away in this, so I'll keep it to myself.
Ti West, once again, shows his masterful ability to build slow, sustained tension. I'm not a huge fan of the found footage genre, but it definitely works in West's favor. It made the movie that much more absorbing. I was yelling at my TV during certain moments, which is very out of the ordinary for me. The shining star of this movie is Gene Jones, who plays Father. The first scene in which Father makes an appearance is the highlight of the movie for me. One of the journalists, AJ Bowen's character, has a chance to interview Father, and it's done in front of the whole community. This is a very long and effective scene, showing the viewer the dominance this man has over these people.
Overall, The Sacrament is a very different kind of horror film by an impressive young writer/director.