The Horror In Humanity: The Sacrament (2013)

Well I was very pleased recently when I sat down to watch Eli Roth's The Sacrament. This film surprised me in that I think that since Halloween is coming up, I have been watching a good deal of horror featuring all the baddies from slasher/killers, to aliens, to ghosts, to monsters. And I think this movie just threw me off a bit because it has nothing like any of that. Just us. Just humanity.

The sacrament is about a group of reporters from a news magazine stationed in New York. The film is presented in the found footage format. As if the movie was shot by a cameraman for a news story. At the top of the film the three main characters are setting up the story. One of the three's sister has joined a parish and the whole lot has moved out of the country to start their own community. Now obviously this already has an eerie vibe. They go to see the sister at their isolated community, Eden Parish, when they are greeted by guards and guns and immediately the tension begin to build exponentially from there.

Of course this movie is something of a "cult" horror. Something akin to the segment of V/H/S 2, "Safe Haven". Really though it feels like there are no real moments of comfort here. It all feels dark. The whole of the movie really creates a world of hopelessness in a very real way. It is not fun. The acting and direction were done pretty well in a way that very effectively immerses the viewer, but the ultimate problem with the film is that it tells such a "real" story that it forgets that it is a movie. The film, while well edited does not hold the viewers hand in the progression of the plot. Also, the only message that this whole film offers is really chilling. That nothing short of humanity caused the events in this film to take place.

I gave this film a 6 out of 10 on IMDb but I do recommend the watch for anyone whose interested. It's a strange film but very well done. I would have liked more of a movie than a found footage documentary. But that personal preference.  I cannot argue that this film succeeds in what it set out to do. Scare.

Poster by R.M. Guera