The Sacrament (2013)
1h 39m | PG-13
Two journalists set out to document their friend's journey to reunite with his estranged sister. They track her to an undisclosed location where they are welcomed into the remote world of "Eden Parish," a self-sustained rural utopia composed of nearly two hundred members and overseen by a mysterious leader known only as "Father." It quickly becomes evident to the newcomers that this paradise may not be as it seems. Eden Parish harbors a twisted secret. What started as just another documentary shoot soon becomes a fight for survival.
Director: Ti West
Studio: Worldview Entertainment
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Video: 720p
Cast
Joe Swanberg
as Jake
AJ Bowen
as Sam Turner
Kentucker Audley
as Patrick Carter
Gene Jones
as Father
Amy Seimetz
as Caroline
Kate Forbes
as Mindy
Reviews
Generous 3.0 here. I really like Ti West. House of the Devil was awesome, and Innkeepers is one of my favorite horror movies from the past few years. Knowing about the Jonestown massacre makes this one extra-creepy, and the short running time works in its favor. Gene Jones slays. Too many missteps though. The Vice angle is the only excuse I can think of for using music (they score/soundtrack their docu-shorts, I'm pretty sure) and it makes the found-footage thing way too plastic. Maybe it's just me but I can't stand pretty much any kind of "Be careful out there boys: you wouldn't wanna walk into the wrong place..." horror trope dialogue. Most everything here is coming from a good place; you can tell Ti West really cares about what he does (tho never moreso than with Innkeepers), but this probably needed more time to simmer/bubble around in his head. Can't help but notice it's his first movie produced by Eli Roth. I have this vision of them meeting a few months before production, getting drunk in Eli's apartment and coming up with the idea. Still better than most horror movies churned out