Synopsis
Dream Well
Isaac and his pregnant wife visit a remote Norwegian village to claim an unexpected inheritance. The couple finds themselves caught in a nightmare when they encounter a sinister cult that worships a sea-dwelling deity.
Sacrifice
2021 Directed by Tor Mian, Andy Collier
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Alternative Titles
Жертва, Жертвоприношення
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I love Norway and cosmic horror so this movie probably appealed to me more than the average viewer. Admittedly it has a lot of problems but I enjoyed myself.
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The recent Barbara Crampton renaissance has took a devastating hit with that atrocious Minnesota accent she was doing for some reason throughout this Norway set middle of the road pagan/lovecraftian cult slowburner.
Run of the mill, midday film festival fodder that made some decent use of the low budget. Servicable in the most forgettable way.
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Should you answer this Call of Cthulhu?
As a fan everything Lovecraftian, I’d say No! as this film pretty much mishandles everything from start to finish, the dialogue is mostly drivel, the performances questionable and the so-very-important atmosphere‘s nonexistent (the landscape is just too damn lovely), but for me the worst was how The Old One is completely misrepresented, in this movie he‘s basically Nessie in a fjord in Norway, shameful.
Watch Dagon, that’s how it’s done ☝️
Personal fun fact: I also own a bust like in the film 😁 sits on my window sill.
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We're now at a place where "elevated horror" (a term I refuse to use without quotation marks because it's stupid) has now become so accepted that we are getting knockoff attempts to duplicate the magic that films that are in this category achieved.
Meet Sacrifice, which wants to be Midsommar but handles it much more like a soap opera than anything you would mistake as elevated.
Neither has the budget or brains to achieve what it wants. Which is too bad, because when I first realized Barbara Crampton was gonna try to pull of a Norwegian accent, I worried, but it turns out to be the best thing in this movie
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What a wonderful surprise this was. Keeping the continuing trend of a solid start to the festival, this Norwegian nightmare provides perfect slow build tension amongst interesting dialogue, stunning locations and an ambient score that reflect beautifully in the night sky mirror filled with mystery. Barbara Crampton ensures her appearance is not just to sell a few rentals but to provide a key role in one of her best performances. It’s Lovecraft influence is not surrounded in confusion or science but is just comfortingly there amongst other influences such as a nice nod to NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Watching this with my 6 month pregnant wife was interesting though and guaranteed her to wince throughout.
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"Do you have any calamari?"
"... Calamari is not a fish. Fish is a vertebrate, calamari's an invertebrate. Fish have a backbone."
"It's seafood, same thing."
"... Same thing?"
"Yeah, it's seafood, you guys serve food from the sea. If you don't serve calamari then-"
"We Definitely don't serve calamari."
"Well then, for the love of God, what do you serve?"
"That. Depends."A very anticlimactic movie with beautiful shots and landscapes, this was unfortunately not the movie I had hoped it was. Sure, Cthulhu is kinda there and Barbara Crampton gives a great performance as always, but most every other aspect is lacking in this film. Johanna Adde Dahl also did a great job at being super creepy, loved…
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A lesser entry in the great resurgence of Barbara Crampton. She'll always be intertwined with Stuart Gordon in my mind, so it's hard not to immediately think of Dagon. However, Sacrifice quickly pushes away from Dagon because it's much more interested in pursuing Midsommar territory. I was hoping for a happy in-between, but the Dagon splashes are few and far between. It builds a good atmosphere and some interesting points, but, unfortunately, doesn't do much to differentiate it from every other "pregnant woman and a cult" movie.
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Sacrifice makes up for its lack of originality and writing with its beautiful cast and atmosphere. I haven't watched much of anything influenced by Lovecraft but it seems to me that this is moreso just showing off how it was influenced by those other works. Not as engaging to me as it can be for other viewers, though even I can agree that Barbara Crampton's performance was very very good.
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Emma and Isaac travel to a Norwegian island that looks beautiful but is populated by a creepy cult - led by Barbara Crampton - who worship 'The Slumbering One'. SACRIFICE is a predictable but ominous and gorgeous Lovecraftian folk horror with great mythology.
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“Some stains, you just cant wash away”
Ooof! Profundity ahoy! This film was pretty cool. An American man returns to his motherland, Norway, after many years and discovers a deep dark secret about his fathers death. Etcetera.
It’s effectively eerie in the early stages, quite nicely retaining its sense of enigma as the movie progresses. Carefully paced folk-horror that never gets too silly or frantic. It's a sort of condensed Midsommar with a cosmic edge, and a nod to The Wicker Man. That latter looms large in the scene where Emma is asking for a boat ride-the-hell-outta there. Obviously she doesn’t get the ride.
Although there is a good sense of character to Sacrifice,…