Sacrament, The (Blu-ray / DVD)
Starring AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, Gene Jones
Directed by Ti West
Distributed by Magnet
Before delving into the good & bad of director Ti West’s latest film, The Sacrament (2013), let’s get a misnomer out of the way: this is not a horror film. Sure, there are some horrific elements to it, but if this film is anything it’s a thriller, at best. At worst, some viewers may find it to be a complete snoozer. West is part of a movement – which, thankfully, hasn’t been christened with some lame moniker like the early ‘00s directors who got grouped into the “Splat Pack” – of filmmakers who revere the slow-burn approach taken by many horror filmmakers of the ‘70s. His films are steeped in homage to those vintage pictures; building atmosphere and establishing characters before culminating in a tense climax and offering a twisted denouement. The guy really seems to be a “love him or hate him” director. The Sacrament is his first flick to venture outside his style – to a degree. West maintains his desire to slowly let the picture unfold, but this time he employs the oft-maligned found footage approach, which nearly everyone is sick to death of seeing used. But he actually does it perfectly, wrapping the narrative up under the guise of being a fully-produced episode of “Vice”, the magazine-turned-media news organization that is known for embedding their journalists in some extremely sketchy situations. Vice’s approach is to offer an unbiased, unvarnished look at world conflict, providing facts and statistics alongside scenes of bizarre rituals, terror and injustice. West pulls it off almost expertly until one very obvious mistake near the film’s end which essentially scuttles the verisimilitude he had achieved.
The film opens just as any “Vice” episode would, explaining who they are and what their mission is as a journalistic entity. They call their approach “immersionism”, which is fitting given how deep their reporters go to get a story. Patrick (Kentucker Audley), who works for the company, gets a message from his sister, Caroline (Amy Seimetz), a former drug addict. She up and left her rehab program (and the country) to join a commune, Eden Parish, and she wants her brother to come visit. Seeing this as an opportunity for news, two of Patrick’s co-workers – Sam (AJ Bowen) and Jake (Joe Swanberg) – decide to come along and document her new life and reunion with Patrick. The group is flown to an undisclosed location via helicopter (it appears to be in South America) and met by men wielding machine guns. The trepidation that washes over them is quelled, however, once they enter Eden Parish and speak with its citizens. Everyone appears so happy and content with their new lives in this utopia, giving all credit to Father (Gene Jones), an enigmatic, charismatic figure who lords over the work being done here. Sam interviews Father, and other members of the commune as well, hoping to get some dirt, but all of his concerns are assuaged to such a degree that he lets his guard down and accepts that everyone here is truly in their own happy place.
And then he’s passed a note from a young, mute girl which reads “Please Help Us.”
After that pivotal moment, the film shifts gears and speeds to a climax that, while totally horrific, doesn’t feel like it’s been earned. West’s script, which had been taut and intriguing up to this point, suddenly moves with an urgency that feels too forced. Father makes controversial decisions based upon seemingly little logic and heaps of paranoia, leading his flock down a path with no return. Perhaps it could be chalked up to the fact that this man is a whack job who’s mentally unstable, making him prone to rash decisions, but the character we’ve been presented with seems like a man who doesn’t move too quickly. To say more would be giving too much away, but the film’s climax is ripped straight from the infamous Jonestown Massacre. Which, if you know that story, is giving the powerful climax away, I suppose. It makes sense for the film to have gone in the direction it does; the issue is that West needed to deliver a compelling reason for his film to have arrived there; and he just doesn’t do it. The film’s final moments are harrowing, with some nice, tense bits tossed in for our surviving cast to navigate. And then there’s a scene where the found footage conceit would have been almost completely believable to buy had West made one of his characters do one little thing… but he doesn’t, causing the thin veil of realism to completely slip away.
First off, let’s discuss the found footage approach. When it’s done right, a film can nearly look like a real movie, which makes little sense if you’ve seen nearly anyone operate a consumer-grade video camera. People are, in general, terrible at filming things, and when there are all sorts of horrible events occurring who would ever think to keep rolling? When it’s done wrong, you get nauseous. The Sacrament succeeds using this approach because Vice is a real organization and their cameramen know how to shoot expertly, even in extreme conditions. Of course, we still have to contend with a lot of convenient camera placement, where footage is captured for the film’s benefit even if it wouldn’t make sense for someone to be filming it, but that’s ok. We can let it go. And it almost makes sense this is all edited together professionally, with subtle musical underscoring, because that’s what Vice does… except that ONE blunder West makes during the film’s ending shatters this notion. As someone who consistently ridicules found footage films on the sheer fact that someone would have to, you know, find the footage, edit it into a cohesive narrative, and score it, it felt damn refreshing to see it used in a way that makes sense. Well, almost makes sense.
Ultimately, The Sacrament is a compelling but frustrating film that presents a unique concept, with a filmmaking approach that feels fresh, though it fizzles out by sprinting to the finish line rather than including a few more story beats to let it feel earned. West is a talented filmmaker, and he tells stories that draw in viewers with an absorbing premise, but nearly all of his movies share one thing in common – a deliberate build-up to a rushed conclusion. His third acts always feel like they need a little more work. With The Sacrament, he proves his ability to get outside genre confines and create something atypical to most horror filmmakers, which is wholly commendable… but it still needs a bit more work.
Given the intended guerilla-style look the film has aimed to capture, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise the 1.78:1 1080p image has been deliberately tweaked in post-production to look like a television broadcast. With the exception of a few shots where the camera has been placed on a flat surface, nearly all of it is handheld but without the “shaky cam” look. Grain has been added over the image to help it look more filmic, without compromising the detail inherent to shooting digitally in HD. The film looks best during the daylight scenes, where detail is at its best, the green of the jungle is vibrant, and contrast is strong. Shadows tend to absorb a lot of the picture at night, when lighting in the commune is minimal and the “cameramen” only have their basic lights to illuminate the darkness. Black levels are solid and consistent. Whatever stylistic look West was hoping to achieve, he nailed it, and any deficiencies seen in the picture are intentional.
An English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound track carries the audio, though the rear speakers really don’t get much play, perhaps in an effort to maintain the television broadcast ethos. No matter, since the front assembly of speakers gets the job done on their own just fine. Dialogue takes center stage here, and it comes through clean & clear. Composer Tyler Bates makes the most of his limited abilities here (and I only mean limited in the sense that he can’t exactly compose a theatrical score for a “TV show”); his cues are ominous and foreboding, beginning with low, rumbling tones that strike with a powerful impact at the right moments. Gun fire sounds genuine, with nice direction depending on where it’s emanating. The most boisterous moments come during the climax, when all hell has broken loose and the soundtrack is a beehive of activity. Subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish, and French.
Writer/director Ti West is joined by actors AJ Bowen and Amy Seimetz for the film’s audio commentary. West has a lot to say about making this movie, from his experience working with producer Eli Roth (who, thankfully, was very hands-off) to shooting in Georgia, the unexpected acting from some extras on set, as well as the aforementioned deleted footage. Bowen and Seimetz have some insightful comments and anecdotes to add in, but West’s information is what makes this track a good listen. Creating The Sacrament: Revealing the Vision features the cast & crew discussing the shoot down in Georgia, the film’s clear Jonestown influence, and the “loose” style West was going for. He wanted this to be non-genre horror, which, in a way, it is. Working with the Director: The Ti West Experience is basically all glad-handing, as everyone who worked on the film gushes about West. Preparing for Takeoff: Behind the Scenes Helicopter Sequence shows a small picture-in-picture window featuring film footage, while we’re treated to footage of those sequences being shot. AXS TV: A Look at The Sacrament is AXS TV’s usual puff piece; an EPK with an overview of the film offering little substance. A handful of Magnolia trailers close out the disc.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary with writer/director Ti West and actors AJ Bowen and Amy Seimetz
- Creating The Sacrament: Revealing the Vision
- Working with the Director: The Ti West Experience
- Preparing for Takeoff: Behind the Scenes Helicopter Sequence
- AXS TV: A Look at The Sacrament
Categorized:Reviews
