Two down on their luck guys perform increasingly dangerous dares for cash in E. L. Katz’s wonderfully nasty 2013 dark comedy Cheap Thrills, now with a new LE Blu-Ray from Arrow Video.
The Film
Goddamn, I love this movie. Cheap Thrills, directed by E. L. Katz, is a pitch-black comedy of an intense horror of escalating situations. It’s harrowing and hilarious as two guys in need are led further down the line, taking increasingly large amounts of cash for increasingly fucked up and dangerous acts by a rich couple gleefully watching the misery. Essentially, Cheap Thrillers is four people in a house egging to edge the breaking point for cash. With the world as it is, what was true in 2013 is all the more so now, as things become more dire. I’ll leave that note there, but one can see the connection.
That’s the crux. What will we do to get what we need? How desperate do we have to be to do nastier stuff? What would YOU do for a Klondike bar? Punch the bouncer? Piss on a friend’s leg? Maim yourself? Hurt others? When do we lose ourselves? Would you put yourself in a Saw trap for cash? Under the blood and mayhem, Cheap Thrills is a parable of the rich using the poor, taking advantage for crass, careless entertainment. Throw out cash and watch them scramble instead of fixing the issues. Make the lower end of the economic scale blame, point, and hurt one another. But even outside of community power struggles, the top level of mayhem for money still works on a visceral, thrilling, and, yes, very funny for those of us who can take violence with humor.
The setup: Craig is about to be evicted and just lost his job; with a baby and wife at home, he doens’t know what do. He meets old friend Vince at a bar, also in the lurch, and the pair are hit up by a couple. The couple offers them money to perform Jackass-like acts, and it seems like easy money. What can go wrong? It only takes 22 minutes to get the four alone in the rich couple’s house, after the bar where they meet and a brief stop at a strip club (never go with a hippie to a second location!), allowing the freedom of going more twisted, bigger, and grosser without all that “civilized society, someone might call the cops” overcoating. Cheap Thrills is a tight, efficient, and compact flick, written by Trent Haaga and David Chirchirillo. While it was already running quickly, after settling into the main location, the next hour never slows as it continually become smore horrifying. Essentially locked in, the quartet can bounce off one another with aplomb and unbridled glee. And blood. And nastiness. Katz builds the film with longer takes, allowing a build of energy in the performances, often bouncing play-like back-and-forth of the script.
The main set is perfectly cast; four character actors working off one another so incredibly well. Pat Healy is the audience surrogate, the down-on-his-luck loser we’re rooting for (wife, kid, eviction looms, no job). Seeing him in this back at release, following Ti West’s Innkeepers, I’ve dug him. He brings the right pathos to Craig and his issues/ He’s paired again with Innkeeper’s co-star Sara Paxton, also known for lighter horror as the New Marnie in the fourth Halloweentown flick, and recently in Weapons. I love her low-key, purposely sleepy, calm, controlled, and cruel performance. It also pairs well with David Koechner as husband Colin. He’s an actor I do find funny, but often trying too hard to get the bit. Here, he’s tempered a bit, still big, but with more character, and it works wonders. Finally, Ethan Embry of Empire Records and Devil’s Candy is put up against Healy as they are forced head-to-head. As characters, they are more than cardboard Victim vs Victimizer; both sets of characters are realized. The exploited are not angels but have their histories, which makes them not only relatable but builds them up as the whys of what they do.
I can’t help thinking about Roald Dahl’s 1948 short story Man from the South, as seen in Quentin Tarantino’s segment of Four Rooms. Cheap Thrills is, in a way, that story expanded to a feature. That with a bit of faust. Perhaps some morality play. But whatever influences, Cheap Thrills works. Katz’s film is a twisted, pitch-black comedy of incresaeingly blood stakes; nasty in the right ways and pure adrenaline.
The Package
Cheap Thrills comes on a single disc blu ray (with an image of a toilet) in a clear Blu-ray case. The sleeve features reversible art, with the original poster and new art by Sister Hyde. It has a double-sided poster with the same art. A booklet slides in, all with an O-card slipcover of the new art.
The Presentation
The Blu-ray film presentation seems to be the same as the 2014 disc release, but that’s fine, as it looks great. Detailed and clear. The audio is the original 5.1 English. Subtitles are English only.
The Features
Arrow took the dare and added features to update the 2014 disc, porting over all of that disc’s contents. Features are all in English with no subtitles.
Commentaries
Two excellent commentaries. I love it when we have two commentaries on discs; one is more “internal,” looking at the nuts and bolts of building the movie, and the other is more external: the world around it, influences, and how it influenced, the time sense. That’s what we have here.
Commentary 1 (archival) E L Katz & Pat Healy
The pair talks of the project from start to finish, of filming on a tight budget and small locations (in 14 days!). They discuss the smartness of the script in keeping it tight, working in constraints, character notes, and the hows of it. They bounce off one another well, having a good time, and are fun to listen to.
Commentary 2 (new) Alexandra Heller-Nicolas
A fantastic commentary. Maybe because Heller-Nicolas, one of the subjects in Chain Reactions, hits a lot of what I’m thinking about while watching and writing my review, including particular notes of have and have-nots and the Dahl story. I assure you, I wrote the review before listening! Additionally, she speaks to the psychology of things, interviews with people involved, and how that approaches from the outside, after the fact, cultural notes, and the wider views.
Interviews (all new)
With Friends Like These – Director Katz and producer Travis Stevens
They talk about how they got to the film in their careers, taking the great script and making it work under the constraints – making a gritty film with a gritty rush helped set the tone, and how the past 10 years have done with the film. (19m)
Money Talks
Actors Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, David Koechner, and Sara Paxton
Separate interviews with the stars are cut together. They talk about the issues, ups and downs, of filming so quickly, especially the more effects-heavy bits. Or the dog. If you know, you know. That’s a story! Funny and open, I appreciated what they talked about for their characters, giving further depth and understanding. (37m)
Double Down with writers David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga
A fine example of how a film comes from a spark of an idea, here from former Troma guy Haaga, a very different first draft and how it can take time and revisions to get to what works on film. (19m)
Ketchup, Cheese, and (Fake) Blood
Special effects make-up artist Hugo Villaseno had a difficult task: since all the effects and nastiness in Cheap Thrills are reality-based, he had to make that work. Loved hearing how the finger and dog worked. 12m
Vital Heat: the Making of Cheap Thrills (archival)
A tell-all documentary was made on set, following the 14 days of filming. Gets really into the nitty-gritty of it. It was a hard shoot, but a good one. And a fine doc. (45m)
Cheap Thrills at Fantastic Fest 2013 (archival)
At the festival premiere, audience members were asked to do their own cheap thrills, including nasty food and tattoos. Quite different from a regular Q&A! (6m)
Trailer
Image Galleries
17 photos, as taken by Sarah Paxton’s character, and 22 on-set production stills.
Booklet
24-page booklet with cast and crew info, shots from the film, and two essays. “We Have Fun” by Heather Wixon explores the financial milieu of the early 2010s. Although it’s just as applicable to now, the timeline of the film is also reflective of what was happening at that point. “Et-tu, Bro-te” by Matt Donato looks at relationships in the film, specifically Sara Paxton’s Violet and her marriage, the friendship of Craig & Vince, and whether it’s disposing of single dudes.
Final Thoughts
Cheap Thrills is a twisted, nasty slice of dark comedy from E. L. Katz. With a new commentary and interviews, it’s a worthy upgrade to the 2014 disc.