Sacrifice

I guess the only redeeming factor about movies like this is that they supply Michael Madsen with money to buy liquor. I caught this in the wee small hours on cable one night and couldn't resist watching it. Madsen plays...a Michael Madsen character!! But less so. Michael really needs to pore over his scripts a bit better. I'm sure he gets some bad ones but one winner has got to come along once in a while. The serial killer scenes in this one reminded me of some early 80's Friday The 13th ripoff film.

Except for Michael Madsen, who was great as always, the acting and the writing were awful. The motivation of the serial killer was somewhat novel, but the rest of the plot was full of holes and dead ends. I don't know if the genre is cops-and-robbers, or whodunit mystery, or cheesey slasher.

This is a violent movie. We get to see bloody knife stabbings and throat slittings, grisly aftermath pictures of murder victims and some shootings with big, beautiful bloodsquibs spraying blood over the victims. I especially liked when the killer came running towards the victim, aggressively attacking with a knife. It is surprisingly violent especially considering that it is made for TV.

The pacing is high and you will never be bored. You will not marvel over the clever story, but it works even though the dialogue sometimes is unimpressive. The acting is nothing special and I was not so happy with Bokeem Woodbine as the black detective, but it is Michael Madsen who has the leading role, as usual as a tough guy, and he knows what he is doing. I will not reveal the identity of the killer but it is nice to see someone so demented and the portrayal of the killer is excellent. The acting is not deserving an Oscar but it will not ruin the movie.

This is not art, Sacrifice is made as entertainment, so the film snobs better stay away. If you like violent movies you can do a hell of a lot worse than watching Sacrifice.

I am a big fan of Michael Madsen, which is the main reason I rented this film. Without Madsen this film would have been a total rubbish of a movie, Do give this movie a go, but only if your a Madsen fan, otherwiz skip it.

4/10

To be honest, I didn't expect much of this film, given that it was being shown at 1 o'clock in the morning when no one would be watching, and the trashy title but it's a good little film.

Michael Madsen is good as the main character, who you root for despite his unsavoury nature. The supporting cast are also good, especially his ex-wife and her new husband and Agent Gottfried.

The tension ratchets up well, and the film moves along in a logical progression. Also, unlike many thrillers, there is enough revealed for the audience to work out who the Sweetwater killer is, without it being obvious. There are no illogical twists and turns which is always nice to see. The scenes with the killer are suitably scary, especially when the killer attacks his third on-screen victim.

The ending is good and well done, as is the rest of the film. It's not a classic, obviously, but watching the film is not a bad way of spending a couple of hours.