Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Cheap Thrills



(2013) ****

Failed writer, Craig, is in crisis. On the same day he learns that he and his wife and newborn are about to be evicted from their apartment, his boss (his wife’s father) fires him after he asks for a raise. While drowning his sorrows in a local pub he runs into a shady former friend from high school. Together the two swap stories and drink beer. After using the bathroom Craig finds Vince talking to an eccentric, very rich, married couple, Colin and Violet. Plying them with coke and expensive Scotch, Colin begins offering the two large sums of money to do stupid things (e.g. “$200 if they can get a pretty girl to slap them” etc.). Eventually Craig and Vince, now high and drunk, accept Colin’s offer to go back to the couple’s luxurious home. Colin notes that it is Violet’s birthday and he wants to give her a really good show. He informs them that he has $250,000 in his safe that he will give them if they engage in a series of degrading actions. Given that they are both down in their luck they quickly agree. It starts out innocently enough (e.g. they are given a large sum of money for shitting in Colin’s neighbor’s house) but as you might expect things get out of control quickly as the challenges become increasingly dark.



I loved this! There seems to be a new genre of horror emerging where people are rewarded for debasing themselves as entertainment for bored rich people (Didn't Homer Simpson do this for Mr. Burns once?). This had me engaged from the get go; a good cast and some very dark humor. It’s not for the squeamish but the rest of you will love watching the escalating nastiness.

6 comments:

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Sounds good! I'll try to squeeze it in.

Catfreeek said...

Count me in, sounds like a blast!

Octopunk said...

I remember having a conversation in the early 90's about what one would do for a million dollars, which ended with us all laughingly saying "So where are the people shelling out for this?" Ha ha ha.

Then Fear Factor was a thing and now all these movies, too. Still waiting for my offer.

AC said...

Hearing some resonance with 13 sins!

DKC said...

It's an interesting premise and one we've seen a couple of times this year. At least both this one and 13 Sins sound like they are doing it right.

Mr. AC said...

"There seems to be a new genre of horror emerging where people are rewarded for debasing themselves as entertainment for bored rich people". Take out the word "rich," and you've just described most reality TV.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...