Os 13 Pecados

"13 Sins" has a lot in common with another recent low-budget, independent film, "Cheap Thrills." In both, a down-on-his-luck young man, driven by extreme desperation, agrees to perform a series of unsavory/immoral/illegal acts in exchange for ever larger quantities of money.

The protagonist of "13 Sins," a psychological thriller written by David Birke and Daniel Stamm and directed by Stamm, is Elliot Brindle (Mark Webber), a harried and harassed insurance agent who has a number of people depending on him for their livelihood and support. These include his pregnant fiancé ("True Blood's" Rutina Wesley), his mentally- challenged younger brother (Devon Graye) and a cantankerous racist dad (Tm Power) who's been evicted from his home and now has to move in with Elliot and his black girlfriend. Then Elliot is summarily fired from his job, leaving him utterly bereft and desperate, until, that is, he receives a call from a mysterious stranger who offers to make Elliot a fortune if he successfully performs 13 tasks as part of a surreal "game show," the hitch being that he can't let anyone in on what he's doing or he'll lose all his winnings.

At first the tasks seem simple enough, but as they escalate in intensity, it quickly becomes apparent that the object of the game is to "show that anyone can be turned into a monster." And Elliot is only too willing to prove that point.

The mood is grim and the humor pitch-black in this Kafkaesque tale of an ordinary man caught in an incomprehensible nightmare from which he cannot awaken, a nightmare filled with shadowy figures and disembodied voices that hold him in their implacable grip - though, if truth be told, the lure of easy wealth can be awfully hard to resist, even when the price is as potentially dear as it is here. The movie is creepy and disturbing in its unflinching look at the morally depraved depths to which desperate people will sink in an effort to ameliorate their situation. It forces us to look at a lot of unsettling aspects of human nature - aspects we might not be all that willing to face - but that's what makes it an effective little horror film in the long run.

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.

A desperate salesman in need of money to support his family agrees to take part in a series of challenges to gain money.

The set up is pretty clumsy but the fun of this film is seeing what the challenges are and how the salesman completes them. The challenges start simple but quickly get more and more sinister.

The film is greatly helped by a good and likable performance from the lead Mark Webber as the everyman put in situations he doesn't want to be in. Good, solid support is provided from the rest of the cast including Ron Perlman. The film is fast paced and there is a great air of tension built up as the tasks escalate and the web closes in. It does become a little SAW like and at times it does become a bit hard to watch. However it does always manage to keep your attention.

This is a film not to think too much about but just to enjoy and on that score this film delivered for me.

OK so I admit I was a bit under educated going into this one and found out in my usual prepping that 13 Sins is actually an American remake of a Thai Horror/comedy, 13 Beloved that came out in 2006. I was drawn to it immediately being the huge Ron Perlman fan that I am, I was pleasantly surprised when I started watching and saw another familiar face in Rutina Wesley (True Blood) playing the pregnant fiancée.' there is another familiar face from True Blood as well in the unnamed father in law to Rutina, Tom Bower, who played in several episodes of the series. the film is full of notable character actors, all leading you to expect a great film.

Elliot (Mark Webber) is expecting a promotion to go along with his upcoming nuptials pregnant bride to be Shelby (Rutina). It looks like life is going to be roses for the couple, but looks are often deceiving and upon closer inspection we find the couple is in dire financial straights. The couple is struggling with a wedding pending, baby on the way and Elliots special needs brother, and it looks as though Elliot needs to rescue his destitute father as well.

Upon arriving at work he finds instead of a promotion, his problems are compiled with a pink slip. How can things get worse you ask? Just as it seems all hope is gone for poor Elliot, he gets a mysterious call offering a solution, 13 tasks each more strange and difficult than the last but for every task completed his bank account will grow, but once you start this game there is no turning back! How far would you be willing to go to make ends meet and find your financial freedom?

So to start with there's nothing all that new about this one, but it does offer up some nice little twists as you go. The characters are each interesting in their own right. The cast is fantastic, but not particularly challenged by the story, so although they do well they don't necessarily shine the way I had hoped for.The film has its moments of dark humor, some good action sequences, and interesting kills. The tasks put in front of Elliot will definitely lead to a discussion and some internal battles of conscious for the viewer.

All in all this film is a fun watch, a bit predictable but it it will also more than likely throw you a few curve balls. Its not a film that is going to change cinema history, but its worth a watch for sure. I will eventually add this one to the collection, as I could watch it again, and I do love some of the cast, but its not as fresh as I had hoped for, yet somehow its still interesting enough to be enjoyable and keep you watching.

HeatherOmen TheHorrorNation.net

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.