The Sacred

I was so amazed to find out that this movie is an independent production shot in Florida by Florida filmmakers! It shows like something we expect out of L.A. The Sacred proves that with awesome talent and a vision behind a film, even a low budget cannot keep a good movie from being made. The first thing one will notice is that the cinematography is superb. The lighting choices and perspectives of the shots play perfectly with the script to tell the story. Secondly, the acting was spot-on. The characters were believable and not overacted as in other horror films. So many times, especially on low budget horror films, it is just one scare tactic after another and story/relationships, etc... take a back seat. It was refreshing to see that story drove the movie. As an audience member, I was drawn into the river trip and curious from the first frame. That is more than I can say about most movies showing up in theaters lately-especially from the ones considered low-budget. Many kudos to this Indie crew for a very watchable movie that could very well become a cult classic.

I had never heard about this 2009 horror movie titled "The Sacred" prior to now in 2020 when I had the chance to sit down and watch it. And it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I found the time to sit down to watch it.

However, "The Sacred", from writers Sharon Reed and Jose Zambrano Cassella just wasn't an outstanding movie. Sure, it was watchable, no doubt about it. But this movie was by no means an impressive foray into the horror genre, nor was it a particularly memorable movie. The whole movie just reeked of being too generic and predictable.

But hey, at least it was not amongst the worst of horror movies around, and that counts for something at least.

Now, the storyline in "The Sacred" was pretty straight forward and very easy to follow. But the storyline and plot were being held back and weighed down by its over-predictability. The writers just offered no surprises to the viewers as the movie trotted on.

The acting in the movie was adequate, but the actors and actresses were struggling with a limited script in terms of dialogue, events and having characters with as much appeal as wet cardboard.

I suppose "The Sacred" has some worth if you are a newcomer to the horror genre. But for a seasoned horror veteran as myself then this was a mere stroll in the park.

Not an overly enjoyable movie, nor is it a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time around, much less being a movie that I would willingly recommend that you spend your time, money and effort on.

My rating of "The Sacred" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Sometimes We Have To Go Back In Time And Look at Horror Movies Back In The 2000's To Remind Us Of What We Had Back Then Compared To What We Have Today In The Horror Genre, This Movie Is a 5 Or 6 To Me Compared To The Mess That Is In Theaters And On Streaming Services These Days And They Call Horror But I Call CRAP!

For a story about Native American "Sacred" lands there are NO Native American actors in it whatsoever! And I noticed the information here on Imdb sanitized the story line quite a bit to take the edge off the not only the lack of authenticity, cultural appropriation, but also the depiction of the "sacred" quality as pure and utter evil.

The White shamaness has bugs crawling out of eyes within the first five minutes of the opening and all the violence gives not a hint of spiritual JUSTICE as portrayed by the plot line summary included on the site!

Native culture is shown as being very cruel and fond of senseless violence and torture and there is no hint of a divine justice related to the violence depicted. Plus, it is just a REALLY bad storyline!

"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible." ~Jonathan Swift

Any project involving Director and Cinematographer Jose Zambrano Cassella is a great display of his artistic vision and a work of pure quality. The fruitful collaboration between Cassella and Sharon Reed, along with a brilliant cast supporting the story brings The Sacred a well deserved place on the Indie scene.

The ever popular horror genre welcomes this finely orchestrated movie, done by a local Florida crew, clearly proving that a high quality product CAN be executed on a small budget. Worth mentioning, the behind-the-scenes; a treat to watch.

Support Indie Film Making by renting this must see!