The Sacrament

The Sacrament

Starring AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Gene Jones, Kentucker Audley

Directed by Ti West

Synopsis:
Patrick's (Kentucker Audley) sister, Caroline (Amy Seimetz) gave up living in New York and moved to an unknown country to live in a religious commune led by Father (Gene Jones), and he's worried for her safety.  Together with reporter Sam (AJ Bowen) and cameraman Jake (Joe Swanberg), they travel to the isolated commune to film what is going on.  Upon arrival, it seems like a nice, albeit different, way of living.  However, as the men spend more time there, they discover the deadly secret behind Eden Parish, and that their loving Father isn't as loving as he appears.

Review:
Ti West is one of today's most talented horror directors, with films such as "The Inkeepers" and "The House of the Devil," he delivers a different type of horror, one that harkens back to the 70s style where there's a slow buildup to a cataclysmic close, instead of relying on "torture porn" and cheap jump scares. 

With "The Sacrament," West turns to the found footage format and, surprisingly, doesn't suck at it.  Sure, the beginning is the traditional found footage conversations - "No cameras!" "Turn that camera off!" "Can we film here?" "Keep filming."  That's one of the major downfalls of found footage films, in that you're always given these lame statements in each movie, but thankfully they don't last long here.  Another problem is that, with most FF films, you know no one makes it out alive.  With taglines like "these are their tapes," you already know it means doom for them all.  Once again, thankfully, that isn't the case here.

Now to the story.  Yes, you can immediately draw comparisons to Jim Jones and Jonestown, and West all but admitted this is an imaginative re-telling of the events.  However, this could be anywhere, anytime, with any person.  There's religious cults all over the world that do this, but Jonestown is just the most well known.  That's another aspect as to what makes this film more terrifying - there's no Jason Voorhees killer, no alien abductions, no Bigfoot - it's something that has happened in the past, is currently happening now, and will happen in the future.

At first all seems peaceful, tranquil and serine.  Following the Bible, everyone gave up their earthly possessions to live together, work together, and live in peace without racism, consumerism and greed.  It's a utopia on Earth, and of course you know it'll all end in tears.  This is another rather unfortunate occurrence in cults such as these - people who pick apart the Bible and manipulates believers into conforming to their own warped sense of ideology.  It'd be perfect if a religious community can do this successfully, but led by fallible  men, it's something of an impossibility.

The only downside to the film is with the lead actors.  They don't really react to what's going on, or try to stop it, but rather serve as outside conscientious observers.  They know something is wrong, but don't do much to prevent it.  Plus the three main actors (Bowen, Swanberg and Audley) aren't very expansive in their acting abilities.  The lone light comes from Gene Jones, who brilliantly portrays Father as a smooth-talking, manipulative leader who knows how to affect his followers to go with him to the very edge of sanity.  The scene where he is interviewed by Sam is one of the best, because you can sense the tension and the odd atmosphere it delivers.

The ending is something you'd expect, but since it's done in a docu-style fashion, it brings it closer to home than just seeing it done with a static camera.  Watching the carnage is like seeing it firsthand, like you're there in the midst of it.  This is where West shines, in his ability to deliver a truly eerie atmosphere and to really amp up the stress and suspense in what you're watching.  You know something bad is happening, and you're eagerly waiting for it throughout.  As I said earlier, there's no jump scares (like I was expecting to see with some of the filming), and that was a true joy.  It really helped to increase the suspense so when the ending finally does come, it's a good release.

Summary:
Once again, Ti West delivers another amazing horror film, filled with story, great acting, and a heart-wrenching conclusion.

My Rating: A-