Sacrilege – The Cult Lacks Personality
Director: David Creed
Writer: David Creed (Screenplay)
Starring: Tamaryn Payne, Emil Wyatt, Sian Abrahams, Naomi Willow, Ian Champion, Rory Wilton
Plot: Four lifelong friends head to a remote lodge for a weekend of fun. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly descends into a fight for their lives when a local Pagan cult offer them up to their Goddess as a sacrifice for the Solstice.
Tagline – Face your fear
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Sacrilege starts when four friends Kayla (Payne), Trish (Wyatt), Blake (Abrahams) and Stacey (Willow) look to go on a remote girls weekend to put aside the problems they have had in the past to have a fun time putting the bad memories behind them.
The girls get invited to a Pagan ritual for a party unlike anything they have had before, one which sees them have a great time, but returning to the home, they all start suffering horrendous nightmares, as the cult has plans for them.
Thoughts on Sacrilege
Characters & Performances – Kayla is the member of the friends that has been through a traumatic event along with a bad break up, she needs that chance to relax and unwind, which this weekend away could offer, being the one pushing the rest into going. Trish is the ex of Kayla, the one that caused the pain, the one that wants to make up for her mistake and remain friends even if she must win over the friends again. Blake is the bar owner who is always up for a good time, she always has the biggest stories to tell from the girls past. Stacey is the social media addict that is obsessed with her own image and taking selfies. Between the four actresses, we get genuine chemistry as they have the party side of life together, but alone, the characters aren’t written as smartly as the friendship is. When it comes to the cult members, we don’t get a chance to see them much, which is disappointment as we could have seen more about what they want.
Story – The story here follows four friends as they look to have a weekend getaway for some fun, only to find themselves coming into contact with the local Pagan cult, which will see them suffering from their own nightmares. When it comes to the Pagan ritual style movies, it does feel like we need to see more about the cult and what they are after, but instead we focus just on girls and what they are going through, which could have more horrific moments, with better reactions, especially once they learn what might be happening. Most of this film does feel like we could have had another act, as we need to see more into the horrors of what is happening, even though the grounded figures created early on, seem to make illogical mistakes.
Themes – Sacrilege is a horror thriller that takes us into the world of Pagan Rituals, seeing the four women facing their fears, which all comes off basic, never hitting the heights you would expect from the horror occasions we could go through. The remote house is the isolated location that is needed for the women to be away from the world, a place where the ritual could take place too.
Final Thoughts – Sacrilege is a horror that offers plenty, but fails to deliver on the highest levels of horror.