User reviews

I recently watched The Sacrifice Game (2023) on Shudder. The storyline centers around a boarding school where students, left with no holiday plans, find themselves sharing their space with a gang on the run from the law. The challenge arises as the students must survive the presence of these ruthless killers.

Directed by Jenn Wexler (The Ranger), the film stars Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street Part 1), Chloe Levine (Adam), Gus Kenworthy (80 for Brady), and Madison Baines (The Young Arsonists).

The Sacrifice Game proves to be an entertaining modern-day slasher. The film kicks off with a fun opening, establishing an intense tone that comes through with great stab sequences and throat slashes. The movie boasts good blood splatter, clean cinematography, and worthwhile gore. This has a well-selected cast and tremendous villain that keeps your attention. The unique twist at the end adds an extra layer of interest. I'm still not sure if I liked it.

In conclusion, while not the pinnacle of slasher films, The Sacrifice Game is a commendable addition to the genre. With a score of 6/10, I would recommend giving it a watch, at least once, for its contributions to the slasher genre.

The premise here is pretty straight forward.

A Manson-style cult takes over a private girls school on Christmas Eve, as they seek to enact an ancient demonic ritual, through a series of murders.

Because it's Christmas...only one teacher and a couple of students are present.

Making it relatively easy for the twisted gang of killers to force their way in, and get what they want.

Their next victim.

The one they need to complete the ritual...and bring forth the demon.

However...things don't exactly go as planned once it's complete.

And it's at this point when the tables start to turn.

The film exudes a relatively dark atmosphere, and has a decent amount of tension.

But the twist is pretty obvious (as a series of incidents strewn throughout the opening foreshadow it).

Fortunately, the film isn't broken because of it.

Good character development manages to salvage it from being a complete bust...and keep you engaged, so as to see how things play out.

After the "twist" kicks in...it takes a bit of a lackluster turn.

But ends up redeeming itself in the end.

Not a bad little Christmass horror, at all.

6 out of 10.

Quick review: The opening scene in 'The Sacrifice Game' is a reasonably well done scene. Unfortunately that's about as good as the film gets and it's all downhill from there. Once we get into the school scenes the movie becomes a bit of slug-fest to get through.

It's quite a bizarre movie in that I really don't know who we were supposed to be rooting for. You'll understand this if/when you watch it. I can't remember many movies like this where everything flip flops and you are left with no real protagonist.

Regardless, the film didn't work for me I'm sad to say. It wasn't scary, or funny and I really don't know how seriously it was taking itself. It wasn't obvious. 4/10.

Ok, so this one had a lot of good things going for it, the acting I genuinely think was good, nice characters that did their job, the annoying ones did annoy you and you did root for the good guys.

The plot is simple but on point, nice flow in the development, yet something was just a little off. It could be that the twist reveals itself perhaps too early, even tho it is on purpose. Maybe we just didn't have the proper time invested in everybody's plan in order to emphasis enough.

Whatever it is, for me The Sacrifice Game is an ok movie but definitely not something to recommend. Even for the Christmas horror list, I'm sure you've been a good girl/boy and deserve better. If I could put my finger on something, I think it's on the fact that it does come off as boring and a little pretentious at times. A lot of unnecessary dialogue that we could have done without and maybe less focus on explicit violence.

So there, I did found a few, flaws, in my opinion.

But if you do enjoy it, I would totally understand. I think it is indeed a well done movie, a lot of effort and passion was put into it, but sadly not my coup of tea.

Cheers!

1) There are two kind of horror movies. The scary ones and the ones which can be called : "A fun ride". I like both of them. THE SACRIFICE GAME is not scary but it is a fun ride. Enjoy it for what it is. I appreciated the fact that there were no cheap jump scares. Characters were not making stupid decisions either. Everything felt natural, at least for a horror movie. Ok, a specific character made an absurd decision towards the ending but it is not something unusual for this genre.

2) Another positive here : There were likeable characters. And the villains were really evil and you were rooting for their downfall. I can't stand watching a horror movie in which every character is disgusting or unlikeable and you kinda root for the villain to kill them all. Things are pretty clear here. Of course, there is a big twist but still, it made this movie more interesting.

3) Acting is above average for a horror movie. Georgia Acken can be a great actress in the future, her role was the most demanding. Of course, this is not the most convincing and realistic movie of the world and viewers won't feel anxiety and agony, but there is no need for nitpicking. It's a horror movie.

4) This is not a MUST WATCH movie, it's not scary neither exciting and if you think about it, you will find a lot of flaws. (For example, the whole thing about the photographs and a specific person..). Lower your expectations and you will enjoy it, some reviewers are unnecessary harsh. This is a movie that respect its viewers.

The opening scene clearly tries to position this movie as grindhouse, only the rest of it isn't. So why do that? Plus the very first scene makes it clear, this could have been a good movie if talent was involved. The acting and directing is horrible.

And there is way too much talking that goes on and on and on for like 30 minutes.

It's not scary in the slightest and the plot meaders and meaders until you just want to take a nap and hope it's done. The twist is dumb.

I find the two great reviews here ingenuous. I can't see how anyone can watch this movie and think that it's good unless they have some hidden motive.

Like being involved in the movie.

The idea was good, the intention was there, but the execution missed the mark.

This horror/supernatural film is set in the 1971 and has a genuine 70s feel to it, particularly the pre-credits scene. It's odd they opted not to stay with that vibe for the rest of the movie.

Overall, a well made film and the acting is strong. Georgia Acken is outstanding in her feature film debut and the rest of the cast are believable.

My issues with the movie are threefold. Firstly, it's violent and gory, but not scary or even creepy. Secondly, the twist is a little silly and barely makes sense. Lastly, I didn't really feel emotionally connected with any of the characters.

I like the general concept of this movie and I appreciate the directors' inspirations and intentions. Unfortunately, the movie itself is very underwhelming in its totality. Some of the acting is goofy in a way that isn't really "fun" or enjoyable, and the 1970s setting isn't very relevant or noticeable. I went into this movie expecting to have some fun, and I was ultimately let down by the dull edge the whole movie has. The plot is undeniably messy, the villains are cartoonish, you don't really root for anybody in the story, and the final result feels unearned. There's a lot of mediocre horror movies I'd say are still worth watching; this isn't one of them sadly. Skip.

If a movie is halfway decent and clearly made in fun or reverence, and that fun or reverence transfers successfully to the screen, I can make peace with a flawed film and be happy.

Satanic Panic and The Void come to mind as recent, cult-related movies that are of a higher caliber.

This was a bland film. The acting was pretty flat--I don't mean to call out anyone, but the teacher and the two girls, specifically, were weakly portrayed. They read their lines like they were puppets who were lying to me.

Aside from that, the gore is a little silly, which would be fine, but coupled with the tenuous plot and the rather silly batch of characters and the only thing really left to marvel at?

Well, I enjoyed the costuming and the setting. But overall it's a boring film and I suggest passing on it.

Off the top of my head, movies that have.

I enjoyed this recent Shudder release, a film that while hokey and basic, still manages to capture the nostalgic essence of 70s and 80s slasher films.

Directed by Jenn Wexler, and set convincingly in 1971, the the events of The Sacrifice Game take place in an old boarding school where two lonely girls and their 20-something teacher find themselves spending Christmas.

Just when they're about to have their turkey supper, a gang of violent fugitives turn up at their door a la Krug Stillo and his cohorts from Last House On The Left (1974). They intend to perform a ritual to raise a demon but that inevitably goes wrong, and the tables are turned.

The strength of the film lies not only in its homage to the slasher genre but also in the compelling performances of its cast. The "good guys", Clara, Stephanie and Miss Rose evoke sympathy, while the antagonists, a group of Satanic Manson Family types, elicits genuine disdain.

All-in-all, a successful addition to the realm of Christmas horror films.

A decent enough premise I guess.

I've been getting so disappointed in Shudder lately and this movie can just get tossed on the pile with the rest.

The acting from the beginning is not much better than your average high school musical, and a couple of the antagonists were so over-the-top melodramatic I almost expected them to start twirling the ends of their mustaches and tying a young maiden to the train tracks.

It varied between made-for-tv tameness and pretty violent deaths that I guess I did not expect.

I'll give it a rousing "meh" and hope Shudder can put out something better in the future.

I think conceptually this movie had some light potential and intrigue, but it ended up being so undercooked that it kind of fell flat.

It was like they came up with a cool idea, conceptually turned it into what could've been a 30 minute short film and then padded out the concept to fill a whole movie. Things kept happening and I kept being like... Why did that just happen, what was that supposed to mean, and how did that affect or further the plot at all? The pacing was a little off as well, having nothing particularly interesting happen until about an hour in.

Also, a large disappointment here were the performances. I think the subpar level of acting ability demonstrated here greatly hindered its potential success. It was surprising because it was literally the entire cast... the girl who played Clara showed some potential but that was about it.

At the end of the day this one just felt pretty amatureish and didn't really work for me all the way. I think my biggest issue is that it felt like someone had a good idea, but simply did not know how to write a movie. Probably would not recommend.

This is watchable and some of the attempts to recreate 1971 are decent, in fact the film seems partially intended to pay homage to the 1972 version of The Last House on the Left. However, fuzzy coats and greasy hair aside, other than the school's Hammer-esque sitting room The Sacrifice Game isn't at all convincingly 70s. Maybe if you're twelve years old? I can see how being born after 2000 would contribute to this uneven mess of a Christmas horror film.

The other obvious "tribute" I see here is a much more recent film - The Blackcoat's Daughter, but that 2015 supernatural possession horror film blows this mediocre effort completely out of the water.

I felt like it was a horror movie that told a scary story but was not really scary (at least to me). A lot of people making that style of movie and a lot of them don't work, but this one did it. It's a horror story that's not scary but its a great tone of bad people getting what they deserve in the most deserving way. The two actors who played the little girls in the movie were captivating, kept me interested in what their fates would be.

If Shudder is keeping count they had a lot of misses but this hit makes up for all that. Went in not expecting much but I got so much from it. Absolutely worth the watch!

Like other reviewers have already stated, The Sacrifice Game, after an enjoyable grindhouse-esque opening scene, sadly loses its track quickly and is marred by too many boring scenes filled with mundane dialogue (blablabla), offering a momentum that perhaps only a tortoise or a snail might find somewhat satisfying (maybe). The humor also falls flat. The production is somewhat okay, the acting improvable. If you're expecting something along the bloody lines of Machete (Kills), Hobo with a Shotgun, or Planet Terror, you will most likely be heavily disappointed. Neither the production, the action and violence (or gore), nor the characters are able to sustain the fun. Overall, it's a rather disappointing affair.

It more or less impressed me as a horror-"lite": reasonably amusing, with some well-done killings (albeit a bit repetitive), but for the rest no serious gore, hardly any scares, and a pretty simple story in which two teen girls were the main characters. Somehow the word "sympathetic" kept popping up in my head, probably not the best praise for a supposedly horrifying demonic horror flick.

The four members of the murderous gang behaved almost caricatural, like a bunch of bickering dumbos. And when, through a modest but somewhat forced plot-twist, we found out in which body the demon resided, they never granted us the pleasure of seeing it transformed to its true terrifying self (probably due to an insufficient VFX -budget). Its demonic powers seemed hardly impressive anyway, restricted to slamming doors from afar and mind-controlling the already most insipid gang-member; killing someone didn't seem to be in it's job-description, and its levitation-power had an almost endearing Mary Poppins-like vibe to it. Anyway, the acting of the cast wasn't that bad, and as said, it was all reasonably amusing, just don't expect anything more.

This film starts out like "The Strangers", segues into "The Blackcoats Daughter", then sort of fizzles out as a possession movie.

This is a Christmas-themed slasher movie with demonic overtones that I could never take seriously. The cast are ok, particularly the two students left at school over Christmas, but the adults are goofy and hard to like.

I think the story was a good idea, but it becomes convoluted near the end when the main characters have to make some important choices. The story loses its momentum in the end. Its bloody and not completely serious, but worth a watch if you like Christmas horror.

This film shows us nothing interesting and nothing new, the usual psychopaths who, however, instead that 1 or 2 are 4 who torture innocent people only to annoy the viewer up to the final epilogue of the good or bad film that is, Unfortunately, as well as you do not find anything new and nothing interesting, unfortunately we also find the interpretations of the actors extremely poor apart from that of Clara and Samanta who are good, and just enough that of the professor! Throughout the film you just have to be there waiting for it to end, clearly with the hope that it has a happy ending, nothing more nothing less!

This was a fun little horror movie about a girl that has to stay in her boarding school for the Christmas holidays together with another girl and a caretaker, meanwhile there is a cult going around killing people in a gruesome way. The cult reminded me of the Manson's family and they are played by four likable young adults that definitely serve in the comedic relief for the movie. The gore is pretty good and was rather unexpected by me and the overall performances are solid. The movie has some turns and twists in his pocket that are rather predictable but still work in my opinion and the overall result is a decent horror movie that is not amazing nor bad. [5,5/10]

Stuck at school over Christmas break, a group of students at an all-girls college with several other members of the faculty are alarmed that a series of ritualistic murders seem to be pointing in their direction, and when the campus is invaded by the same psychopaths must try to stop them.

There were some positive aspects to like with this one. One of the better features here is the generally solid and fun setup that provides this one with quite a lot to like about it. The main setup of the cult members going around doing the series of invasions and various intrusions shows them on a direct course of action to arrive at the school and set out trying to set about the final stages of the ritual in their path. The arrival at the school which is in the process of shutting down while on holiday allows them to come in and take over the school which is a solid enough starting point for the first half. This setup provides a fun launching pad for the film to twist itself on its head for what the actual purpose of everything is. With the intruders thinking it's all about them summoning the demonic being and its aftermath, a fantastic twist about their purpose for being there and the ritual behind it all turns the film into a different kind of feature together with it turning into a different entity than they expected appearing and bringing this into a series of demonic temptation and corruption setups that are pretty brutal and graphic with some surprising gore and bloodshed to give the film some likable factors. The film does have some stumbling blocks that hold it down pretty well. The main issue here is the highly underwhelming and generally confusing main twist that causes a lot of questions to be raised about how it plays out. Setting up one of the characters in the manner this does to be revealed later on is a solid enough ploy that manages to come as a surprise, but doing so also highlights a special flaw in this delivery when it's pointed out on-screen how that's impossible to have occurred in the manner depicted. It's not given any forethought and seems to be included more for the shock value than anything. The other issue on display here is the massively scattered pacing that features some rather challenging material. Starting nicely with the furious introduction to the psychos and their quest, the start/stop method of carrying on the invasion of the school taking them hostage, and setting up for the actual sacrifice ritual whips around between urgent and relaxed so it lasts until around an hour before this one gets going with the main gist of its plot. This is enhanced by a series of rather flimsy series of character changes regarding how to carry out the mission so it changes things up enough to hold this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

I don't know the reviews are so low because it's really not that bad. With full honesty I can proudly say this is a good watch. Someone said it's downhill after the first scene but personally, I think it's uphill. You just want to keep watching to see what's going to happen. I don't think it's for everyone but if it interests you in the slightest, you won't hate it. I think the acting is great, and I can tell Jenn Wexler really thought about these characters and gave them all a unique personality that you can distinguish easily. These actors are extremely underrated and everyone portrayed their character perfectly. I can tell some actors were genuinely having fun on set and it made their performances more enjoyable. Besides acting, the cinematography could be better in some scenes but that's just my opinion. There a couple awkward camera angles but they're tolerable. Some of the effects a little too unrealistic for my liking. Theres a plot twist about half way in and it may take a second to really get what's happening but I love how going into the movie I came out with a completely different mindset. This has to be one of my favorite Horror Christmas movies I've watched and I recommend to give it a chance despite the lower reviews :)

No pun intended - sometimes you look for things, when they are right in front of you. And we have quite a few evil people here going on a killing spree ... but this is not what the movie is about ... there is so much more. And it might even blow your mind, once it is finally revealed.

Quite clever movie and really well done. A movie that played as closing film at Frightfest - and I reckon rightfully so! If you watch a movie like that, a big cinema makes the most sense! Especially if it has some really good (blood) effects and twists that will make your head spin (like the Exorcist? Maybe - would be fitting) ... really well done, go in with as little information as possible ... it is best enjoyed like that.

Watch this one till the end. It's a worthy ride. It may seem slow but if you pay a little attention it's rewarding. It really is a game of sacrifice.

The lead child actress is great. I think one should expect greater things of her in the future should she chose to stick with acting.

The four killers are a great team of villains and what at first appears to be a team of thrill killers soon become pawns in their own game.

The suspense builds steadily as the story unfolds. There are subtle twists and turns as the film goes on.

The ending is interesting and rewarding for having watched.

Some films that are written and directed by the same person can be a bit so so, but this one works VERY well.

It's not your typical horror with blood, guts, nudity and gore which I love to watch, but more of a slower burn that gets more and more interesting the longer you watch.

Well worth the viewing 8/10

Thanks for reading.