Sadik 2 Movie Review

Written by Charlotte Stear

Directed by Robin Entreinger
Written by Robin Entreinger and Jean-Nicolas Laurent
2013, 76 minutes, Not Rated

Starring:
Guillaume Levil as Marco
Alexandra Bialy as Isa
Léon Vitale as Al
Mathieu Coniglio as Fred
Valentin Bonhomme as Kevin
Guillaume Gamand as Franck
Marjolaine Pottlitzer as Gwendo

Review:

You’re probably thinking, “Sadik 2? When was Sadik 1? Surely I need to see the first one to enjoy the merits of Sadik 2!” Well, never fear, this is merely a misleading title and it should not put you off catching this small budget French film which is set to have its world premiere at FrighFest this year.

The movie concerns a group of friends who meet up each year to spend New Year’s Eve together and this time they have taken themselves to a remote cottage in the mountains. Isolated from the world, the six friends drink and party but unbeknown to them, they’re not as alone at they thought and during their festive celebrations they begin to disappear one by one.

Like any typical “cabin in the woods” movie, Sadik 2 sets up the basic requirements: no one can get signal on their phone, one friend seems a little unstable and they all met in a community home after teenage bad experiences, so they all have baggage. It is a recipe for disaster. What is really exciting about the film is the nods to the genre, the people behind this film most definitely have a real love for it and that is always fun to watch. One character produces a suitcase full of VHS for the weekend which includes a copy of Maniac Cop  and throughout the film the group name checks classics such as Driller Killer, Cannibal Holocaust and Sweeny Todd. This is where it gets interesting and incredibly meta. It seems one of the coolest films they’ve seen is a mysterious film called Sadik and that’s where the confusion about the title becomes clearer. This is the brilliance of Sadik 2, is it takes these pop culture references and an obvious love of the horror genre, and turns it on its head in the same way the much referenced film Scream did.

Sadly, the film does not reach the potential that the storyline offers. Instead, each character is ticked off in horrific ways in a rushed manner, kind of like a conveyor belt of gore. With only 15 minutes left of viewing time and four of them still alive, it’s a rushed job to get them hacked up. And boy, do they get hacked up. Drills and hammers are used to torture, but the worst scene is a woman skinned alive. The torture route is a surprising turn as the film definitely has a more slasher feel to it up until this point, but the filmmakers should be praised as it is effective in the small time it is on screen. It feels nasty and the gore seems believable, so on the budget they had, they did a really great job. But if this film had just 20 minutes more, it could have carried on with the character development and wouldn’t have felt so hasty with such an abrupt, slightly obvious ending. But, it is not your typical cabin in the woods movie and for that it is worth a look.

Video, Audio and Special Features:

Video, audio and special features will not be graded as this was a screener.

Grades:
Movie:

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