The Sacrament

Audience Reviews

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John C I hate ‘found footage’ films. There’s simply too many of them these days and they’re all basically the same. Just because ‘The Blair Witch Project’ revitalised the genre, it seems that every wannabe film-maker is trying his hand at one. Let’s face it... they’re cheap and easy to produce, not really relying on fancy special effects for scare tactics. Personally, I think all ‘found footage’ horror films should come with a warning on them, letting us – the viewing public – know that we’re in for ninety minutes of shaky camera footage with actors whispering directly into the camera from right up close during alleged times of tension. In fact, if ‘The Sacrament’ did have a label on it saying that it was ‘found footage’ I wouldn’t have watched it in the first place. However, I did. I mainly watched it because it had Eli Roth’s name attached to it and I still think he has some good stories left in him (even though I haven’t really enjoyed much he’s done since Cabin Fever). And, amazingly it’s watchable. That would be how I describe it – watchable. Not good, just watchable. And, based on how much I hate ‘found footage’ films, ‘watchable’ is a reasonable compliment. We get the same old documentary film-makers travelling to some cult’s commune in the middle of nowhere to track down one of their lost relatives. Guess what... all is not what it seems. I won’t go into detail, as you can probably already guess what sorts of perils they run into. You get the same shaky camera-work, chases through woods, characters sticking their faces right up close to the camera and filming themselves. Nothing new, but, when compared to all the truly horrendous ‘found footage’ rubbish infesting DVD bargain bins, at least I managed to sit through this one without turning it off halfway! Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/22/24 Full Review Audience Member Ti West has clearly done his research: it's hard to imagine a better movie could be made about Jonestown. This film brought the absolute horror of that day to life for me. The needless and appalling way all these people, nearly a 3rd of whom were children, died. Horror is the only word I know that comes close. Edit: Many commenters seem confused. The filmmaker has always been totally transparent that this is a simplified retelling of the Jonestown massacre in a modern setting. He's not hiding that whatsoever. I'll bet money that West heard the nightmarish Death Tape, and it got under his skin for good. And so he had to make this. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/09/24 Full Review Logan D Two documentary filmmakers journey to a hidden compound to help their friend locate his sister. First, let me say Kentucker Audley may be the best name I've ever heard. Seek out his film Strawberry Mansions for an odd treat. As for this film, it's a slow moving effort from West but it does feature his talent for atmosphere. The story is obviously influence by Jim Jones and Waco and their aren't many surprises knowing that fact. The actors are engaging, however. For a found footage film, however, I wasn't always sure who was filming. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/26/23 Full Review Alec B Yes it's an ambitious and sometimes frightening film, but it suffers from some really unconvincing performances and a dud of a finale. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/10/23 Full Review Emma S Idk how to explain how many things are wrong with this garbage. Total ripoff of Jonestown tragedy except it was real and this was horrible worrying and acting. Ridiculous individual death scenes overreacting, even to the Bic lighter scene. I just can only assume there's a generation not familiar with the event so don't truly under stand just how poorly this film was done. Even in the last moments of the film they are still pretending it's not Jonestown. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/02/23 Full Review Ana O It's... ok. Kinda disappointing. The movie is made well, acted well, everything is done well, except that it's just... not interesting. There are no twists. Everything that happens is extremely predictable. It's basically just the Jonestown story. Honestly if it had explicitly stated that or said "based on a true story" I would've enjoyed it more. I was just expecting it to be something different, because there have already been a ton of Jonestown movies made. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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