george.schmidt Review of Cheap Thrills

Cheap Thrills (I) (2013)

Echoes of anthology episodes past of deadly betting games gone wrong

[6/10 · 7 November 2013]

CHEAP THRILLS (2013) ** Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner, Amanda Fuller. Part-black comedy, part horror film about two hard-on-their-luck friends who bump into each other on a fortuitous night when they become friendly with an off-beat couple who engage them in a deadly betting game of one-upmanship that tests all matters of what is moral and when is enough enough. While David Chirchirillo & Trent Haaga clearly have seen their share of vintage anthology TV (i.e. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents…." & "Tales From The Crypt" where the plot line echoes an episode of each) the tension escalating flatlines no thanks to rather stilted direction by E.L. Katz despite a game cast and a few gnarly moments (but truly nothing 'horrific' or 'new').