The Sacrifice Game

An hour and a half of lethargic acting performances in a film where none of the characters really knows what they are doing and even less is known by the director, who takes a dull and unimaginative approach to the potentially interesting story of satanic murderers who break into a girls’ boarding school. There is zero atmosphere, suspense or period stylisation and the sporadic attempts at humour are cringe-worthy. I don’t understand the positive responses from overseas critics. (2023.10.08)

The Sacrifice Game is a very artificial attempt at wannabe cool horror set in 1971. The whole thing feels so studio clean and slick that you don't believe for a moment that you're watching real settings, real characters and real terror. Add to that the tragic overacting of most of the actors involved and it feels like an amateur performance converted into film form. It's a film that's only fit to be stuffed into the video library of some second-rate streaming service, which is where it will end up. Seeing this in a genre film festival alongside works that can do wonders with a comparable or much lower budget and can look realistic with their retro setting is a death sentence for this mechanical and annoying crap. (2023.10.17)