In cinemas now, Cheap Thrills and The Sacrament find horror in unusual topics.
Ryan compares and contrasts two daring genre films…
NB: The following contains mild spoilers forThe SacramentandCheap Thrills.
Director EL Katz and writer Trent HaagasCheap Thrillsis so contained, it could almost be a stage play.
Whoever drinks the shot first gets fifty bucks, Colin says.
As an allegory for the modern age,Cheap Thrillsis about as sharp as a horror movie gets.
Manipulation, greed, jealousy and cruelty all of this is laid bare inCheap Thrills.
Its a blackly comic sketch of a dog-eat-dog world.
Fathers unfailing ability to make even a passing remark sound like a threat.
The armed guards who lurk at the periphery of the village.
And what kind of religious leader wears sunglasses at night?
The Sacramentis unusual both in terms of its measured pace and its balanced approach to its subject matter.
Idyllic and utopian though Eden Parish seems, human nature ultimately proves to be the communitys undoing.
Although theyre two wildly different films, bothCheap ThrillsandThe Sacramentexplore similar themes.
In both instances, that desire for power reaches violent and devastating extremes.
Although neither are without flaw, they dare to find horror in the relatively mundane rather than the supernatural.
you’re able to read our review ofThe Sacramenthereand our review ofCheap Thrillshere.
Ourinterview with director Ti West can be found here.
