Would You Rather

(2012)

A seemingly benevolent millionaire offers a young woman the opportunity to win the money she needs to pay for her brother’s leukemia treatment. Iris and six other guests are invited to a dinner party that culminates in a not-so-friendly game of Would You Rather.

It turns out the millionaire (Re-Animator’s Jeffrey Combs) is in fact a sadistic prick who delights in watching people exchange their ideals and dignity for money. Iris disregards her vegetarian beliefs for $10,000 and eats a fat slab of meat, while a recovering alcoholic drinks a bottle of scotch for $50,000. Combs reminds me of 80’s wrestler The Million Dollar Man, whose catch phrase “everybody’s got a price” pushed even Hulkamania to its limit. The contestants are put in the unpleasant position of making difficult choices that become increasingly deadly and their morality is put to the ultimate test. Most of us like to think of ourselves as selfless and altruistic but you can never tell where one really stands until faced with such diabolic scenarios that Combs concocts.

Would You Rather hooks you almost immediately and never lets up. Combs plays a magnificent bastard whose commuppance I demanded. Sadly I was a tad disappointed by the Pipe in the Ass factor but the conclusion is still beautiful and satisfying in its own way.