The Sacrament

Ti West's latest horror opus has the viewer following a man going to visit his sister at a remotely hidden commune with 2 internet documentarians in tow to film and follow the story. It turns out to be more of a cult though ruled by an enigmatic leader named Father who seems to have a tight hold over his flock.

It doesn't take long before they realize things aren't exactly as they seem as they are drawn into the horror surrounding Eden Parish.

Many comparisons to real life cult situations of the past are being drawn here in a lot of other reviews and comments which kind of give the ending of the movie away, maybe aptly so, but it really just plays out like a horror movie. A.J. Bowen plays a different kind of role than he's used to and does a great job of it.

Fun cult movie has West moving in a new direction and he does a good job of it. There is quite a bit more action than his previous 2 films as the action moves along at a fairly steady pace. The soundtrack throughout the latter half of the movie detracts a little from the found footage experience as it takes a bit of the reality out of the situation.

If The Sacrament has anything going for it, it would be how much the filmmakers accomplished with such a small budget. The colony is a worthy achievement; a lot of time and effort has been put into constructing the huts and various buildings. The isolation of the colony and the complacency of its inhabitants effectively establishes an eerie vibe and these are the main reasons why the first half of the film is the strongest. What tension there is builds slowly, and your time isn't wasted with jump scares and cheap thrills. Also, I appreciate, despite the fact that this is a found-footage film, that the camera isn't too shaky.

As a whole, unfortunately, The Sacrament is ultimately ineffective as a horror/thriller film. Ti West and company have derived a lot of inspiration from the Jonesville mass suicide in 1978, and this ends up being a negative contribution to the film. I have watched harrowing TV documentaries regarding this truly horrifying moment in human history, but The Sacrament is simply as predictable as any routine horror film. I made the Jim Jones connection very early on. The appearance of Gene Jones as "Father" only confirmed this connection, though Jones is definitely a wonderful member of the cast and I applaud the filmmakers for tracking him down.

I'm sure that there was a way to make this work. But the resemblances to Jonesville render the film practically unnecessary; I knew exactly what was going to happen. I understand that the film was based on a very disturbing event, but that doesn't give it a free pass. From a historic point of view, this is an interesting representation of Jim Jones' cult. But from a creative point of view, the film is ultimately an hour of slow -building tension with a restrained payoff. A good twist or perhaps taking the Jonesville concept in a unique direction would have given this a few more stars from me.

In conclusion, I recommend this for people who have never heard of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. For everyone else, I can't say the same.

This was an almost exact telling of the Jonestown Massacre. The only differences were the date because it was present day, a film crew came with a parishioners relative rather than a congressman and there were not as many victims.

Most people seem to dislike the "found-footage" genre, though I personal like to see what stories filmmakers can create and develop it as a found-footage (mostly horror). I did like the first 3 installments of "Paranormal Activity," I absolutely loved "Cloverfield," and "The Blair Witch Project" did scare me. Thus, if you found more than one of these repulsive, ignore my review. I will also warn that this is obviously not a movie for everyone. After watching this movie, I can say that I came out very disturbed and mortified, which was Ti West's intentions (I presume). The whole film feels very real, and I did enjoy Gene Jones and Amy Seimitz's terrifyingly surreal acting. Most people will see this movie knowing how it'll end since it's based on the Jonestown massacre (don't look this up if you don't know it!!!), but that doesn't mean there weren't other aspects of the movie that weren't entertaining. For what the movie is about, I was surprised to still be jumping in my seat and breathing heavily at moments of great suspense. My only complaints about the film were some of the choices Ti West chose to move the story (those moments where the audience knows they are doing something very stupid and it feels unrealistic that they would do that to begin with). Some criticism I've heard is that it takes forever to get to the "good" parts. I'm going to argue that that is false criticism unless you are only looking to watch a 95 minute movie filled with terror and suspense. Yes, the first half of the movie doesn't have very much suspense, but there is still a chilling mood creeping up every minute. Plus, the chemistry between the actors is great and entertaining!

The journalist Patrick (Kentucker Audley) works at the VICE, a company dedicated to cover bizarre news. When his sister Caroline (Amy Seimetz) joins a community, she travels abroad with her new family. Out of the blue, Caroline invites her brother to visit her in an undefined country and Patrick travels by helicopter with his friends Jake (Joe Swanberg) and Sam (AJ Bowen) that work with him at VICE.

They find weird that the men that have come to guide them to the Eden Parish have guns. On the arrival to the camp, Patrick, Sam and Jake find a community of happy people that worship Father (Gene Jones). They interview Father but soon they realize that people are not as happy as they seem to be. Further, they find that they are trapped in the Parish Eden and they want to leave the place with the newcomers. But the Father does not have intention to let them go.

"The Sacrament" is a suspenseful horror movie with a music score in the beginning that recalls "The Twilight Zone". However this awful "found- footage" genre spoils the creepy story. The Dogma 95 has only 77 recognized movies, but this rip-off of the genre seems to be the easiest means to produce cheap low-budget movies in the present days. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Sacramento" ("The Sacrament")