The Sacrament Blu Ray Review (Second Sight)

The Sacrament is a 2013 found footage horror film written, produced, edited, and directed by Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine, The House of the Devil, Cabin Fever 2, The ABCs of Death, V/H/S, and The Innkeepers). It’s based on the Jonestown events. It was produced by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever franchise, Hostel franchise, Clown, Aftershock, 2001 Maniacs, Hemlock Grove, Haunt, The Last Exorcism, The Man with the Iron Fists 2, and The Stranger). The budget was $4,000,000 and it only grossed $9,221 during it’s limited theatrical run. Photographer Patrick (played by: Kentucker Audley from V/H/S, Strawberry Mansion, Her Smell, and She Dies Tomorrow) gets a letter from his former addict sister Caroline (played by: Amy Seimetz from Pet Sematary, Upstream Color, Alien: Covenant, You’re Next, Sweet Tooth, and Stranger Things). It invites him to visit Eden Parish founded by a religious leader Father (played by: Gene Jones from The Hateful Eight, The Last Stop in Yuma County, Killers of the Flower Moon, and No Country for Old Men). Patrick decides to investigate the unique situation. He travels to a secluded location with his boss Sam (played by: AJ Bowen from You’re Next, The House of the Devil, The Signal, Satanic Panic, Creepshow 3, Hatchet 2, and The Guest) and cameraman Jake (played by: Joe Swanberg from You’re Next, V/H/S, Cabin Fever 2, and Proxy). They start filming a documentary during this trip. They interview several members of the community and they all have the same answers. They find out that everyone gave all their money to the church before they went on this new journey. As Patrick, Sam, and Jake get further into the group, they notice more strange things that keep happening around them. Father and his community are feeling used by this documentary production. The Eden Parish is now a tense environment and the crew feels trapped as their time goes on. Can they save Caroline from this dangerous religious cult???? The Found Footage is one of most mixed sub-genres of horror. I genuinely think more of them are a miss rather than a hit. The Sacrament is one of the best found footage features in a long time. It’s a slow burn so you definitely need to be patient with it. It takes some time to develop the characters and build everything up. I promise you, it’s worth the wait because the last 20 minutes are batshit crazy. I love how everything starts to fall apart after it all seemed too good to be true. Lots of the main cast from The Sacrament were all in You’re Next so that’s pretty cool to see them all reunited in this. Kentucker Audley as Patrick just wanted to save his sister because she had a troubled past. AJ Bowen as Sam doesn’t know when to stop when he’s pushing too hard. I think his ambition is what really changes the community as they dig deeper into their way of life. Joe Swanberg as Jake mainly stays behind the camera but he’s the first one that sees the danger in Eden Parish. All three of these leads had excellent chemistry together. Amy Seimetz as Caroline is so unhinged, she’s probably the most loyal follower of Father and she was the reason that the film crew visited there in the first place. Gene Jones as Father steals every scene that he’s in. He’s the best thing about The Sacrament and his presence just grabs your attention. He’s a natural leader and you can see why so many people are convinced by his methods. Every major acting role here is very impressive and there’s no weak link in the entire main cast. Most of the Eden Parish community just feels like normal people and it really works better that way. The Sacrament is basically a modern day retelling of Jonestown. I’m always fascinated with stuff that has to do with cults and this is one of the highest quality versions of that concept. It takes awhile for something to happen here but I honestly never felt bored with it at all. I appreciate films like this that capitalize on it’s build up. It has some shocking moments and Ti West doesn’t hold back when it comes to the chaos, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Second Sight Films! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks fantastic for being found footage horror. Sometimes those types of films look rough and I do realize that’s the point sometimes with the style but this is one of the more clean visual efforts when it comes to that sub-genre. It was one of first full length features shot with the Canon C300 so that’s one of big reasons why it looks so much better than your typical found footage. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the crazy moments are elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. “Indie Guys at Heart” is a brand new exclusive 30 minute interview with actor AJ Bowen. He chats about the Vice connection in this. The indie vet shares his experiences on The Sacrament here including working with the cast and crew. He brings up how the horror movie was received when it was originally released. “The Best Pathway” is a brand new exclusive 10 minute interview with actor Joe Swanberg. The cameraman from this wild film talks about what it was like to work on this. He goes over the fake documentary concept. “An Ecstatic State” is a brand new exclusive almost 15 minute interview with actress Amy Seimetz. She goes over the production of this crazy cult flick. She chats about working with Ti West and the concept of The Sacrament. “The Itch to Act” is a brand new exclusive 13 minute interview with actor Gene Jones. He chats about this being the film that he’s most known for despite doing some huge movies over the years. This is the one that changed his acting career. He brings up the Georgia locations that they used for the movie. “A Wild Ride” is a brand new exclusive 25 minute interview with producer Peter Phok. He talks about how he got into the film business. He goes over some of his earlier projects. He discusses putting together The Sacrament. “Truthiness: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on The Sacrament” is almost 11 minutes. The critic shares his thoughts and opinions on this horror feature. “We’re Not Sinners Here: The Making of The Sacrament” is a little over 59 minutes. There’s lots of behind the scenes footage in this documentary especially some of the bigger moments from The Sacrament. It has a variety of interviews with the cast and crew from the production. It’s an awesome inside look into this cult movie. If you are fan of The Sacrament, this Second Sight Films home video release is a huge upgrade when it comes to extras compared to the older one in the states. I only got the standard version for coverage but there’s a limited edition version available. This is a Region B locked Blu Ray. This home video release is available everywhere in the United Kingdom and select spots in the states, CHECK IT OUT!!!!