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.

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.

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.

Michael Madsen plays Tyler Pierce, an ex-con who escapes from jail to find out who murdered his only daughter Lisa. With the help of Naomi Cohen (played by Jamie Luner), he finds out who murdered his daughter and some of the reasons why she was murdered. "Sacrifice" is very gripping, and keep you at the end of your seat. A must see for all Michael Madsen fans.

Laughable dialogue, terrible camerawork, and a ludicrous script make this an all-around BAD movie. And yet, like so many other bad movies, you just can't seem to change the channel. Maybe it's to see if Jamie Luner will get naked again, maybe it's to see if Bokeem Woodbine, who gets second billing, will get another 5 minutes of screen time this hour, maybe it's to see exactly how Mr. Blon... I mean, Michael Madsen's character will manage to get away from the cops, maybe it's because ALL the movie channels are playing similar stupid direct-to-video movies at this hour of the morning.

From the serial killer with the box of boobs, to the gratuitous dream sequence with Madsen's dead daughter in the restaurant, this is one completely silly movie. Watch it anyway, what else are you going to do at 3:30 AM?

-Mikey