13 Sins: Spiel des Todes

'The Box, 2009', meets 'Saw, 2004', meets 'Eagle Eye, 2008'. Combine the plot, premise and mood of those three movies and you'll know precisely what to expect from this taut, energetic thriller/mystery. It most resembles "The Box" but focuses more on action than psychological thrills. It most certainly doesn't qualify as a horror.

It was a pleasure to see Rutina Wesley (HBO's True Blood) on the big screen, and Ron Perlman is always a delight. All of the performances delivered were good, some more-so than others. A comprehensible script along with some talented directing made it all come together nicely.

If you're looking for a film to keep you glued to the edge of your seat, this one misses the mark, just barely. If you're looking for a film that will have your mind reeling, it also just misses the mark. As an effective genre hybrid it walks the line and makes for a palatable, enjoyable, viewing experience for a wider audience set. It's plain movie fun that doesn't cater to idiotic 'tweens.

How far would you go to become a multi-millionaire? Can the promise of fortune turn the meek-mannered into a violent sociopath? Who is being entertained by this insidious game and how?

I think this movie could have done well in theatres if just given even a moderate push. It's a smart horror movie. I know we are so used to getting bombarded with ghost story horror movies, like The Conjuring, Insidious, and Sinister (which are all basically the same movie), that something like 13 Sins couldn't possibly stand out. Right? It's like a horror movie version of The Game, or a horror version of Series 7. Not quite The Running Man. In this version, a man (Webber) is told that he can potentially win 6 million dollars. Of course, he's down on his luck, which is why he was chosen. He's also planning a wedding to his girlfriend (Wesley), and needs to take care of his mentally ill brother (Graye), and potentially his sick father (Bower). So a lot is at stake.

He has to complete 13 tasks. The first is easy. Kill a fly. But the stakes are upped with each new task, and soon he finds himself doing things he never thought possible. What can a man convince himself to do to provide for his family? 13 Sins is an interesting take on something that's already been done before. It does enough different to feel fresh, and not only do you want to know how it ends, you'll be surprised by how it turns out. There's a great twist at the end, and it makes the movie so much better.

Webber is a great lead, and underused in Hollywood. Hopefully more people will see him in this so he can get higher profile roles. It's also a nice departure for Wesley, who usually has to kick ass as Tara in True Blood. It's nice to see her play the sweet girlfriend for once.

It's on Netflix, and it's very much worth a watch. Probably one of the best surprises I've had watching a random film on Netflix that I knew nothing about.

I truly liked this movie. This movie was of the puppeteer type as I like to call them. A person or person(s) are committing atrocities yet someone else is pulling the strings.

13 Sins is about a man, Elliott Brindle (Mark Webber), who is down on his luck when he's offered an opportunity to win loads of money to help alleviate his woes. There are 13 tasks to complete and the rules are such that once he starts he pretty much has to continue to completion. Of course the game is anything but harmless.

I was impressed with the plot and the build up. Before having some random person launch into a morbid game we first got to see the type of person Brindle was and the type of issues he had to deal with. Pregnant fiancé, disabled brother, elderly father, and recently terminated from his job. This information wasn't thrust in there as an aside, we were given it organically within the flow of the movie.

It's also a movie that makes you think: "How far would I go for a sizable sum of money?" The puppeteer type movies always find human weaknesses to prey upon and they are usually either greed or survival. Where movies like "Saw", "Die", "Vile", "Circle" and others are about pure survival at its core, "13 Sins" is about social survival. Elliott could've easily opted not to play but what quality of life would he have given his situation?

There were some small flaws with the movie but overall it was a good product. They took a known premise and freshened it. It helped that the actors were good and you didn't totally know what was the end game. Yes, I truly liked this movie.

I've always liked psychological thrillers, and though I wasn't particularly blown away, "13 Sins" is a good pick.

The cinematography was rather mediocre and especially monotonous in the beginning, but Mark Webber indeed did a great job - you can see his posture and facial expressions change drastically throughout the movie, which I find pretty haunting. The plot is simple yet intriguing and smart. Somehow, all the twists seem predictable for me, but that doesn't mean they aren't good ones. There is some decent, mild gore along the way as well, as expected from Dimension Films. To be honest, I think it wouldn't hurt to show some more blood; but considering the fact that this is low-budget, it's not that important.

Though I did have fun sitting through 90 minutes of this movie, I wouldn't highly recommend this to everyone. Maybe just some who need a new breeze regarding horror / thriller genre (the exact reason why I watched "13 Sins" in the first place).

I will say it now: if you watch this film, don't quit until the 90 minutes have expired. Otherwise you will miss the devilishly clever final twists which are well-foreshadowed. In fact it is textbook screen writing. Fiction writers from all genres should take note - this is how you do it.

However, it's easy to change channels when watching 13 Sins. The low budget and (at times) pedestrian acting make it unremarkable to the eye, and it's tempting to go looking for something better. But stick with it, as what 13 Sins lacks in scale and scope it makes up for with suspense and intelligent twists. If you're very good, you might see it coming. The events of the third act are telegraphed clearly in the first, although you'll have to be smart to put the pieces together. This is where the film succeeds. Mysteries should always give the viewer a chance to solve the puzzle, and while 13 Sins doesn't make it easy, you can certainly do it. In fact I'm laughing out loud at myself for not seeing it coming.

That said, 13 Sins is a flawed film. It's tried to blur the lines between a suspense thriller and horror film. There are some hackneyed horror moments that could have been handled more effectively. A handful of gory scenes were obtuse and unnecessary, and perhaps would have been better if done with more subtlety. This seems to be the fault of the director who is apparently influenced by the style of independent horror-film makers of the 90s and 2000s who don't understand the value of tension. Gore on its own is ineffective. Horror is equal parts what we see and don't see. Case study: the original Alien showed us everywhere the creature could be, and in turn revealed them to be empty, letting our minds wander, letting us experience what the terrified characters were feeling. When the ultimate moment comes, it's done logically, and with nuance and flair. There's no gore on screen that didn't need to be there. All horror writers should study this.

The other problem lies with the film's occasional desire to go beyond it's limitations and try to establish a grander scale. There's an "escape" set piece that falls short of competency because they didn't have the money for good special effects, and it showed. You could have just left it out. An independent film should work around its budget instead of stretching it.

Anyway, out of all the slim pickings of 2014 so far - which is shaping up to be another terrible year for film - this low-budget suspense thriller has actually impressed me. Elliot's (the protagonist's) transformation was mostly plausible, aside from a few nonsense moments. It's sheer intelligence and gripping, relentless pace kept me watching until the bitter end. However, while I have said that the final act is quite good, it is let down by an incompetent epilogue which leaves us with a Downer Ending instead of one which is left open to the audience to interpret.

I recommend it as a rental only, but I DO recommend you see it.