Trailer Link

Release Date:

March 21, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Cheap Thrills follows Craig (Pat Healy, Compliance), a struggling family man who loses his low-wage job and is threatened with eviction. In an effort to delay facing the music at home, he heads to a local bar and encounters an old friend (Ethan Embry, Empire Records). The two friends are roped into a round of drinks by a charismatic and obscenely wealthy stranger (David Koechner, Anchorman 2) along with his mysterious wife (Sara Paxton, The Inkeepers). The couple engages the two friends in a series of innocent dares in exchange for money over the course of the evening, with each challenge upping the ante in both reward and boundaries. It seems like easy and much needed money, but the couple’s twisted sense of humor pushes just how far Craig and his friend are willing to go for money and cheap thrills.”

Poster: C+ / C- / C- (4)

Review: Taking the first design to highlight the cast, this will obviously be the poster facing audiences in crowded multiplexes. The remaining designs are definitely not more interesting. The second design plays up the fear element to the narrative, but doesn’t try to be otherwise distinctive. The four character posters are black-and-white unless they need to highlight blood, which makes them almost garish.

Trailer: C+

Review: The premise reminds me a great deal of a recent horror outing called Would You Rather. There are a lot of similarities, even in the design of the trailer, which starts off like something of a dark comedy, but quickly spirals out of control into the guise of a Double-Dog-Dare-You kind of experience. Neither concept looks that appealing.

Oscar Prospects:

None.

Revisions:

(March 16, 2014) Original

Additional Posters