The Sacrifice (2005)

Director:

Jamie Fessenden

Writer:

Jamie Fessenden (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Sometimes Friendship Requires A Little Sacrifice

Plot:

A teenage boy moves to a small New Hampshire town with his mother, only to discover that it is being run by an ancient Satanic coven.

Plot Keywords:

Spell | Gay | Teen | Goth | Homosexual

Cast

Kevin Belval	...	Coach Warren
Amber Bonilla	...	Student #1A
Andrea Boyd	...	Mary Legget
Eugene Conn	...	Hank
Jeff Delano	...	Bradley Somersett
Anna Dumas	...	Girl in Cafe
Ximon Dunedain	...	Dr. Marshfield
Jamie Fessenden	...	John Lowry
Cary D. Gladstone	...	Policeman #1
Teri Gladstone	...	Receptionist
Robert Kersey	...	Jonathan Kelly
Vicki Laird Rourke-Rooney	...	Prudence Whitehead
Kymra McCarthy	...	Laura Kelly
Sherry Mitsui	...	Mrs. Henniker
Maureen Murphy	...	Student #2
Ford Natirboff	...	Joe
Bob Pearson	...	Eli Corwin
Dan Randall	...	Chief Lewis
Dawn Reilly	...	Student
Tim Robinson	...	Mr. Allen
David Snyder	...	David Ross
Bowen Staines	...	Absent Student
Robert Stiefel	...	Christoph
Aron Theroux	...	Aron

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Derry, New Hampshire, USA

Trivia:

Two weeks before filming was scheduled to begin, the lead had still not been cast. One of the cast knew of a young man who frequented a local goth club, who had the right look. The young man was Robert Kersey, and even though he had little previous acting experience, he looked perfect for the part and impressed the director with his natural delivery.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time David follows Jonathan home, Jonathan is wearing a different shirt when they arrive at the house than he had on when they were walking through the field. This was due to the two scenes being filmed weeks apart, and the shirt being misplaced in the meantime. An attempt was made to film the scene so that Jonathan's chest always remained turned away from the camera, and the result was somewhat awkward.

Quotes:

Jonathan Kelly: He's a Corwin, isn't he?
David Ross: He's a nice old man who sells used furniture.
Jonathan Kelly: You've watched more horror movies than I have. Antiques dealers are always evil. Just like clowns and friendly neighbors who bring you health drinks.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Resurrection (2008)

Soundtrack:

Wormwood

Worth owning

I was fortunate to see an early version of "The Sacrifice" debut at a small sci-fi/horror convention, where it was very well received by the audience. A good portion of the cast was present for the screening, and the director Jamie Fessenden and lead actor Robert Kersey were on hand discussing the film-making process on various panels.

The film is a remarkable first from Fessenden, presenting a compelling story, a haunting score, and drawing good performances from his actors. Kersey was noteworthy as the new kid in town thrust into unraveling the secret of the town's strange history, and making sardonic and sulky appealing. Snyder also delivered a solid performance as the local friend who needs his help. There were minor technical lighting and sound issues evident in the screened print as the crew became familiar with their equipment, but I was happy to see most of these were addressed with reshooting or editing in the DVD I purchased.