Whilst movies based on or inspired by the great Lovecraft have been igniting terror as far back as we can remember, there’s been a particular resurgence of late with the success of films such as The Void, Color Out of Space or HBO’s recent anthology series, “Lovecraft Country”. Another film with the father of cosmic horror’s work running through its veins is filmmakers Andy Collier and Toor Mian’s Sacrifice, starring one of the actresses most often associated with Lovecraftian adaptations and homages, Barbara Crampton.
Based on author Paul Kane’s short story ‘Men of The Cloth,’ the film sees Isaac (Ludovic Hughes) and his pregnant wife Emma (Sophie Stevens) return to his birthplace on a remote Norwegian island after the death of his mother, to claim an unexpected inheritance. Whilst there, the couple soon start to unearth dark secrets from Isaac’s past, and what they expected to be a pleasant, fleeting trip quickly turns into a nightmare when the couple find themselves in the midst of a sinister cult that worships a pervasive presence dwelling in the darkest depths of Norwegian waters.
As SACRIFICE prepares to release in select theatres this Friday, February 5 before releasing On Demand on February 9 and on Blu-ray on February 23, SCREAM got cosmic with Mian and Collier who revealed the genesis behind the story and how they didn’t expect their film to be riding on the same wave as the likes of Midsommar and Color Out of Space as the similarities they share are purely coincidental.
Words: Howard Gorman