Reviews: 13 Sins (2014) Movie Review
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Subgenres: Killer, Sci-Fi, Serial Killer, Survival Games, Thrill Kill, Blumhouse
Our honest review of 13 Sins (2014) breaks down its scares, pacing, and whether this horror movie truly stands the test of time.
13 Sins (2014) is a remake of 2006 Thai horror comedy 13 Beloved also known as 13: Game of Death. German writer and director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism, A Necessary Death, Off Hollywood & Vine) did a great job with the remake, but he overkilled the gore. 13 Sins is a psychological thriller that contains violence, suspense, dark humor, tremendous goriness, profanity and some frightening scenes for younger viewers. This movie reminds me of Saw without the p*rn that gives it a plus because I am not a fan of p*rn. I would recommend this movie for every horror fan to see because I enjoyed it greatly and will be on my list to watch it again.
13 Sins is basically showing us how far or how much sins people/humans will do for money. I put myself in Elliot’s (Mark Webber - The Ever After, Welcome to Willits: After Sundown, Uncanny) shoe/position and I understood why he did all the challenges. Elliot got fired from his work which was his only source of income to provide for his unborn baby, his fiancee, his father and his autistic brother. His fiancee owes thousands of dollars on her credit card. He pays his brother’s housing and medical bills every month. He also has to pay for a place for his father to live because his father spent all of his money and his fiancee does not want the father to live with them, for good reason.
Elliot has so much expenses that he took on the challenges to earn more money. The amount of money increased to amounts unimaginable to Elliot and if he backs out of the game/challenges then he loses everything that he has won so far. Elliot will earn a cash prize of $6.2M if he completes all 13 challenges plus all charges will be dropped somehow. Elliot sees money going into his bank account and believes it is legit. Will Elliot risk his family and love ones for six million dollars? Will he live to see six million dollars?
The cover image suits this movie because it shows the viewers that the devil is pulling all the strings on Elliot, just like a puppet. The cast was solid and did a marvelous job. The storyline was intriguing twisted and surreal. The movie was suspenseful and I could not guess the next challenge until it was up to challenge 12. People, please watch this movie - greatly recommended.
The best acting scene was at the rehearsal dinner where Elliot went above and beyond to cause a chaotic distraction with the security guards and police officers so that his brother could escape. He totally trashed the place by breaking almost all of the glassware with a mic stand. The motel scene where he had to saw one of his childhood bully arm off was a gut wrenching moment for me. How much harm will Elliot do, so he does not lose the money.
I gave this movie an eight because it was a bit slow but engaging at the same time. I believe the movie should have paid a little more attention to the other characters and not just Elliot. The movie could have extended its time to an extra thirty minutes and elaborated a little more on the challenges each time it was done.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- 13 Sins Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 6.53/10
- IMDB: 6.3/10
- MetaCritic: 4.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 6.5/10
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