The Sacrifice Game Review: ‘Tis the Season for Some Seriously Strange Slaughter

Horror may seem an unlikely bedfellow for the sentimentalism and cheer of the holiday season. Yet writer-director Jenn Wexler daringly brings them together in her latest film, The Sacrifice Game. Set in a remote Catholic girls’ boarding school a few nights before Christmas in 1971, this seasonal shocker initially shapes up as a menacing home invasion thriller before taking some wild and unexpected turns.

At the helm is up-and-coming genre director Wexler, who showed promise with her scrappy debut The Ranger. Here, she reteams with producer Heather Buckley in a bigger budget effort that promises the mayhem of a Manson Family cult meeting the menace of a demonic boarding school. The basic premise sees greasy-haired ringleader Jude (Aladdin’s Mena Massoud clearly enjoying playing the villain) and his motley crew of devoted followers besiege the school and take hostage the few remaining residents – students Samantha and Clara, teacher Rose, and Rose’s boyfriend Jimmy. Yet in Wexler’s hands, familiar set-ups give way to creative twists.

So while uneven pacing and stilted dialogue prove occasional hindrances, The Sacrifice Game ultimately delivers a fun, festive package. Anchored by committed performances and confident direction, Wexler puts a refreshing spin on genre tropes. For horror fans up for something off-kilter amidst the usual holiday fare, her third act surprises make it well worth the ride.

A Hostage Nightmare Unfolds at a Girls’ School

The Sacrifice Game immerses us in the creepy atmosphere of Blackvale, an imposing Gothic Catholic boarding school for girls. Set a few nights before Christmas in 1971, only a skeleton staff and student body remain on the remote campus over the holidays. Bored, angsty teenager Samantha would rather be home with her family, while quiet misfit Clara keeps to herself as she endures bullying from mean girl Maisie. Rounding out the residents are teacher Rose, who oversees the dorms, and her boyfriend Jimmy, the school’s groundskeeper.

Their isolation makes them vulnerable targets when Jude, Maisie, and their two devotees, menacing Grant and unhinged Doug, invade the school. Seeking occult artifacts tied to the school’s dark history, the Manson-esque foursome take Rose, Samantha, Clara and Jimmy hostage in the dining hall. Bound to chairs, knives held to their throats, the captives have no choice but to let Jude’s deranged demands play out.

Sinister secrets, betrayal, and splatters of gore ensue over one long, dread-filled Christmas Eve. Asatanic ritual threatens young Clara’s life unless the hostages help locate an ancient relic hidden somewhere on campus. All the while, Samantha and Rose seek any chance to overpower their captors and escape out into the blizzard raging outside. Yet with each failed attempt, Jude’s threats turn real as the body count rises. For the students and staff of Blackvale, this holiday will become a waking nightmare that only the toughest can hope to survive.

Confident Direction and Committed Performances Anchor an Uneven Script

While the bare bones premise of The Sacrifice Game may seem familiar, director Jenn Wexler injects plenty of creative visual flair. Shooting in a dimly-lit, imposing boarding school set in snowy rural Canada, Wexler ratchets up tension through tight compositions and voyeuristic framing. Cinematographer Alexandre Bussière often films the action through windows or door cracks, enhancing the claustrophobia as Jude’s gang traps the hostages inside. Clever lighting schemes cast an eerie glow over the shadowy halls, punctuated by the crimson reds of gore and blood magic rituals. For horror fans, it’s an aesthetically pleasing and atmospheric descent into evil.

Matching Wexler’s assured direction is a game cast that rises above the limitations of the script. Mena Massoud has a blast chewing scenery as the unhinged and flamboyant cult leader Jude, adding a dash of dark humor with his gleeful malevolence. Newcomer Georgia Acken also makes an impressive debut as the bullied yet resilient Clara, bringing an intensity beyond her years. The film springs to life whenever these two clash wills, even when Wexler lingers too long on stilted exposition.

Unfortunately, lead Madison Baines struggles to make rebellious teen Samantha feel like more than a standard horror heroine, while love interests Chloë Levine and Gus Kenworthy fail to generate much chemistry trapped together as hostages. Wexler further hinders her cast with lengthy dialogue scenes that bring the momentum to a stiff halt. Various characters excessively discuss backstories or explain motivations rather than letting the action unfold through visual storytelling. It’s only when heads start rolling that The Sacrifice Game reclaims the sinister atmosphere Wexler builds so well.

Uneven pacing and static exchanges prevent the first half from fully popping. Yet the director’s haunting aesthetics and Massoud’s maniacal menace offer enough creepy compensation until the satisfyingly off-kilter climax. For every scene that drags, Wexler delivers two that shine by heightening tension and embracing the weird. Navigating the flaws requires patience, but the rousing payoff ultimately rewards those willing to stick through slower sections early on.

A Snarky 70s Remix of Holiday Horror Tropes

On the surface, The Sacrifice Game assembles familiar horror ingredients into a vintage 1970s thriller. We have the remote Gothic boarding school straight out of Suspiria. The charismatic cult leader and his hippie pagan fanatics resemble a bloodthirsty Manson Family. And setting the action on Christmas Eve evokes classics like Black Christmas while adding some demented festive dread. Even the blunt brutality of the early violence feels reminiscent of that grindhouse era.

Yet rather than simply paying homage, Wexler infuses this mixture with a snarky style all her own. The needle drops classic 70s rock tracks not just for nostalgic atmosphere but to ironically underscore the chaos, like using “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” while Jude tortures Rose with a knife. Wexler equally subverts slasher clichés, setting up final girl tropes with Samantha’s rebelliousness before zagging in bolder directions.

And as strange as the satanic rituals and blood magick may seem, The Sacrifice Game continually hints at something far weirder lurking beneath the surface. Wexler peppers the script with foreshadowing about the history of witchcraft at Blackvale. So when the story flips from occult horror to supernatural fantasy in the third act, the groundwork allows it to feel fully earned. Audiences attuned to Wexler’s sly tone will see how she secretly stacks the deck for this unusual narrative pivot.

Some may critique these wild tonal and genre shifts as inconsistencies or flaws. Yet it proves central to why The Sacrifice Game stands out from scores of VOD holiday horror releases. Wexler borrows familiar flavors from the 1970s heyday only to put her own contemporary spin on them. The result may be an acquired taste, but horror hounds thirsty for something bold should sip freely from this refreshingly weird and wacky brew.

A Festive Horror Cocktail That Satisfyingly Subverts Expectations

The Sacrifice Game makes it clear early on that writer-director Jenn Wexler has concocted a love letter to the schlocky seasonal horror of the 1970s. Yet rather than just imitate grindhouse tropes, she freshly remixes familiar ingredients into a thrillingly weird witches’ brew all her own. Nostalgic style and gore gags evoke snarky throwback vibes, while the committed cast maximizes the mayhem. For two acts, flaws like uneven pacing and stilted dialogue threaten to blunt the edge. But Wexler clearly plays the long game, layering in oddball mythology to set up a knockout twist finale.

It would be easy to dismiss the wild left turns as inconsistent, sacrificing coherent tone for flashy twists. But for horror hounds seeking inventive twists, Wexler’s oddball brew still satisfies. What begins in grim home invasion thriller terrain mutates into something more unhinged, occasionally to mixed results, yet always with boldness. Fans of more mainstream, typical holiday horror fare may find themselves scratching their heads. Yet genre devotees thirsty for films that burrow into fresh weird territory should eat up the third act shocks.

Brimming with snarky style and a commitment to subverting tropes, The Sacrifice Game doesn’t always work. But it swings big creatively, and the elements that do stick make suffering sluggish sections worthwhile. Backed by Shudder, Wexler has the resources here for a bigger platform to showcase her youthful cinematic voice.

The unevenness indicates she’s still honing that voice. Yet her provocative promise remains impossible to ignore, especially with the arrival of young standout Georgia Acken. Horror cinema always benefits from exciting new talent twisting genre DNA. ForDistinctive direction and a delightful finale make enduring uneven pacing worthwhile. Better tuning required – but Wexler’s creativity still shines.

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