Curse of the Sin Eater

Sin Eaters exist in folklore, and take on the transgressions of a deceased person. It's a notion full of possibilities for a modern horror film. But they are never realized here. There is not enough horror to call this a horror film, and not enough suspense to call it a thriller. The main inspiration seems to be Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, with a stern-faced housekeeper overseeing a forbidding mansion. But even this isn't fully exploited. A few setups show some promise to bring this up a notch, but the execution is lacking and the ideas are never fleshed out.

Basically, it feels like a made-for-cable film on a tight budget. The acting from everyone is bland. Nothing in it is particularly memorable or noteworthy. It gets three stars because there is lots worse on streaming services, but there is also lots better.

Curse of the Sin Eater is a pretty original making of a historical ritual. According to Wikipedia: "A sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person."

However, this movie takes a historical idea and gives it very unique twists and turns. You need however to fight the urge to skip forward to see how it ends.

Elizabeth Laidlaw and Larry Yando give a masterful performance, and the cast of characters blends quite well.

If you manage to predict the amazing ending then congratulate yourself, and buy yourself a prize. I hope there will be a sequel.

I was taken totally by surprise by this movie, it was excellent! The casting was perfect with the lead actor giving a gritty and realistic portrayal of a young guy having an extremely difficult time with his life!

Shrimp's appearance and demeanor are disturbing, but totally realistic in showing the poverty and desperation of a working class kid on Chicago's rough South Side. I am very impressed with his performance and just about every member of the cast as well - they evoked genuine emotion on my part.

The story line is based on an old Indian practice, but with a very surprising twist - the sin eater ALWAYS was headed for punishment, but after death. With this film the punishment starts on day one and includes an accumulation of sins from past sin eaters!

Excellent plot, execution of that plot with fine acting in all quarters! This was a surprise delight of a movie!

Congrats to all people connected with its production!!!!

Great story from and old religious belief.

New Director , unknown actors , Carter Shimp Great performance, Elizabeth Laidlaw also Good, Director Justin Denton, Great Full lenght first movie, they all make it a Super great Horror movie, IF you want easy to see Great Horror, se the Scream films, IF you lika odd Great horror se Curse of the sin eater, last time I saw a Great Odd new Horror was in 1990 , it took 33 yesrs to make a new kind of Horror, I hope all the cast will keep on going. And make a follow upp to this Great film, this Will be called a Classic in the future, just like Carpenters Halloween.

No pun intended - the movie is quite unique ... or rather its story is. And it is almost a shame it does not take more advantage of it. We are talking about something that you are not seeing that often. Not saying the story is completely unique ... but with some better ideas, a script that added a few things (scenes or character traits) .. it could have been .. well a contender I assume.

Acting is ok or decent ... but you won't be too amazed by it. The main character is quite bland - which is the biggest issues one can attach to it. You have to root for him ... I reckon the twists and the effects do safe the movie a bit ... but again, you have to love low budget movies ... and horror/fantasy inspired stuff too ... wicked, not always in the best sense.