Director – Poison Rouge (A Taste of Phobia, No, Not in My Mouth)
Starring – Flora Giannattasio and Roberto Scorza
Release Date – 2018
Rating – 1/5
I had a fun Unearthed Films movie marathon recently. I tossed in the surprisingly entertaining Red Krokodile and followed that up with the best installment in the American Guinea Pig series to date, The Song of Solomon. This film was fun but some of the praise it was receiving was a little outlandish.
The next film in the series is the Poison Rouge directed Sacrifice. This hour long installment was a surprise release during the crowd funding campaign for The Song of Solomon and was recently released on blu. I was lucky enough to get a review copy when it was released. Thank you MVD for sending this one my way!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a depressed man as he wonders through town aimlessly until he reaches an apartment. He enters the apartment and finds his way to the bathroom. He locks himself in and starts harming himself. Not to kill himself but to bring enlightenment to his mind. With each cut and wound he becomes closer to his goal and along the way he summons the goddess Ishtar.**Spoiler Alert**
I was on a high going into this one. I was really impressed with The Song of Solomon and had high expectations for Sacrifice. Out of the entire series so far I have to say the artwork for this one is my favorite. Sadly, this film was a huge let down.
The acting in this one is different than other films and quickly puts me in mind of Red Krokodile which I recently reviewed. This one man show follows a man’s journey through self-mutilation. He does hurt himself throughout the film but there is really no acting. His reaction to his self-harm is usually done off camera or just for a split second before we are taken back to the effects themselves. This type of film is really hard to judge the acting especially when you consider the narrative.
The story for this one is very simple. One man in a room hurting himself. A one man torture porn if you will. This story would have been effective as a much short film but at 60 minutes it is damn near impossible to sit through. Once you hit the 30 minute mark you find yourself wanting to browse social media or perform some other task rather than watch the film. It is just boring. Even the shocking acts on film lose their impact because the viewer has lost interest.
Finally, the film has amazing practical effects and gruesome sequences. The story may be lacking but the red stuff is not. Fans of extreme horror may enjoy the brutality of this one but standard horror fans will not. Overall, Sacrifice is easily the weakest installment in the series. I really wanted to like it especially after checking out The Song of Solomon but I just couldn’t. It absolutely bored me to tears. If you want torture this is the film for you but if you are looking for more you will not be pleased.
