The horror film, The Sacrament, which tells the story of a journalist who investigates a seemingly-benign but mysterious cult – and which then recreates the story of Jonestown, even if it never mentions the site of the 1978 tragedy by name – was released in early 2014 to mixed reviews.
The book has been reviewed in numerous publications since the beginning of the year. The two reviews written by contributors to site are:
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• The Sacrament: Art Imitates Life, Part 665, by Matthew Thomas Farrell
• Horror or Horrible: A Review of The Sacrament, by Katherine Hill
Online reviews of The Sacrament included:
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• ‘The Sacrament’ Is Highly Effective and Suspenseful!, by Evan Dickson, Bloody Disgusting, April 28, 2014
• ‘The Sacrament’ is Ti West at his best, Examiner.com, May 2, 2014 (See also, Sometimes better safe leads to you being sorry, Examiner.com, June 9, 2014
• The Unburied Truth About Jim Jones, by A. J. Delgado, The National Review Online, May 8, 2014
• The Sacrament (2013) Ripples of Jonestown, The WGON Helicopter, May 13, 2014
• Ti West’s ‘The Sacrament’ finds horror in a realistic cult tale, by Mark Olsen, The Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2014
• ‘The Sacrament’ Restages the Jonestown Massacre with Ghoulish Immediacy, by Rob Staeger, The Village Voice, June 4, 2014
• ‘The Sacrament’ is Jonestown for a New Generation, by Bill Gibron, PopMatters.com, June 6, 2014
• The Sacrament, by Tom Meek, Paste Magazine, June 7, 2014
• Gene Jones blessed by ‘Sacrament’, by Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, June 26, 2014
• The Sacrament: The Jonestown Massacre, All Over Again, by Brian Miller, Seattle Weekly, June 24, 2014
• ‘The Sacrament’: Tale of a latter-day Jonestown, by Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times, June 26, 2014
• For indie film, ‘Sacrament’ takes too literal an approach, by Robert Horton, Everett (WA) Herald, June 27, 2014
• Home Video Review: ‘The Sacrament’ Is a Sloppy Fictionalized Riff on the Jonestown Massacre, by Bob Grimm, Coachella Valley Independent, July 3, 2014
Interviews with Sacrament crew and cast members included:
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• Director Ti West: Ti West On Mass Murder in ‘The Sacrament’, by Evan Dickson,
Bloody Disgusting, May 1, 2014
• Director Ti West: Ti West talks ‘The Sacrament’, by Alex Biese, The Asbury Park (NJ) Press, June 9, 2014
• Director Ti West: Return to Jonestown: Ti West on The Sacrament, by Alan Bett, The Skinny, June 11, 2014
• Actor Gene Jones: Gene Jones talks about playing a cult leader in Ti West’s ‘The Sacrament’, by Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly, June 3, 2014
• Actor/filmmaker Joe Swanberg: Indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg plays a cameraman in creepy cult thriller, The Sacrament, by Ned Ehrbar, MetroNews Canada, June 9, 2014
Previews of the film included:
- • Ti West Visits Jonestown in Red Band Trailer for ‘The Sacrament’, mxdwn.com, February 21, 2014
• Watch: Red Band Trailer for Ti West’s Found Footage, Jonestown Massacre-Inspired ‘The Sacrament’, by Max O’Connell, Indiewire, February 21, 2014