Cheap Thrills
Tags: cult, comedy, satire, murder, violence

Plot synopsis:
Craig (Pat Healy) is an auto mechanic who loses his job. He is unable to pay his rent and after seeing the eviction sign, he goes to a dive bar, where he meets an old friend from high school, Vince (Ethan Embry). After their reunion, they meet a rich couple, Colin and Violet (David Koechner and Sara Paxton), who appear friendly and benign initially, and after becoming aware of Craig's dire financial situation, offer them money in return for completing certain tasks to entertain Violet, as it is her birthday.
As the first task, Colin offers fifty dollars to whoever between Craig and Vince can drink a shot he pours first. From there, the danger of the tasks escalates along with the payout. The dares result in a bouncer confronting Craig, who is offered five hundred dollars by Colin to hit him first. He does so and is knocked out. When he comes to, he realizes he been brought to the home of Colin and Violet. Tensions between Craig and Vince begin to emerge when they compete with each other in a breath-holding contest and Vince punches Craig in the stomach to prevent him from winning so that he may claim the prize money himself. Another dare between Colin and Vince involves Vince urinating on Craig's shoes. When Craig angrily goes to clean up in the bathroom, Vince accompanies him and they hatch a plan to rob the couple. Vince divulges that there is $250,000, which he instructs Craig to steal.
At knife-point, Vince manages to get Colin to reveal that the safe is unlocked. Craig retrieves the money and returns only to have Colin and Violet turn the tables on them when they disarm Vince. Colin and Violet agree to let bygones be bygones if Craig and Vince promise to behave, and still allow them to take all of the money, if they continue to play. Another dare involves Craig having sex with Violet as well as getting $4,500, the amount required to pay for Craig's month's rent. This angers Vince, who views it as an unfair bet, increasing hostilities between the two friends. Humiliated and feeling guilty for cheating on his wife, Craig withdraws from the game and goes home, having earned enough money to delay homelessness for the time being. Violet, who seems to have begun to develop feelings for him, is upset and becomes withdrawn, causing the game to end, as its purpose was to entertain her. Vince, desperate to win some more money, offers to perform anything asked of him. Colin suggests the amputation of his pinkie finger for $25,000. Just as Vince is about to accept, Craig returns to the game, stating that he only temporarily solves his problem with the $4,500 he has earned so far, and offers to the do the same dare for a smaller sum. Vince also goes lower, and they go back and forth until Craig settles for $15,000. Vince cuts Craig's pinkie off, resulting in Craig winning again, which only serves to anger Vince further.
The next challenge involves eating a cooked dead dog, (who had died while trying to eat Craig's finger), with the winner who finishes his portion first receiving $50,000. The contest results in a draw, a tiebreaker and the money will be given to whoever eats Craig's finger, Craig wins but he then gets beaten up by an enraged Vince. After being taken outside to calm down by Colin, he suggests that Vince kill Craig for the remaining portion of the $250,000. Vince considers the offer but finds himself unable to kill his friend, he suggests he and Craig leave but is suddenly shot to death by Craig. Colin calls Craig a taxi and he leaves with his winnings in hand, after he has left, Colin pays Violet her money, (the two had made a bet on which friend would kill the other; Colin chose Vince with Violet choosing Craig.) The film ends with Craig arriving home, comforting his child, suddenly the light turns on and his wife appears, staring at Craig covered in blood and at the money strewn all over the room.

Review: Thankfully the director doesn't overdo it, which gives the violent scenes all the more impact.Acting, Cinematography, Script, and a sense of connection, makes Cheap Thrills another movie that proves that lower budget films are capable of matching it with the mega budget movies as far as enjoyment is concerned..
His character comes across as very friendly and likable but there is always a nervy feeling, like he could do anything at any moment, he is very intense & Koechner is extremely convincing in playing him.The divide between filthy rich and poor is huge and this movie makes it its aim to show you this.
The view from Craig and Vince is also a simple one, how far would you and how low would you go if big bucks were being offered to you.This movie certainly isn't ideal family viewing; there is sex, drugs, violence and some disturbing scenes.
The film stars Pat Healy and Ethan Embry as two old friends who, while commiserating over their extreme financial woes, meet a rich, thrill seeking couple, played by David Koechner and Sara Paxton, that derive enjoyment from making wacky bets involving risky dares and large amounts of money.
Ultimately I really enjoyed this film and despite maybe not having the best ending in my opinion, it's still damn good movie which should be seen.
On the night he loses his job as a mechanic at a Southern California garage, Craig wanders into a local bar only to hook up with an old buddy of his from childhood (Ethan Embry) and an obnoxious, borderline- sadistic millionaire (David Koechner) who keeps tossing money at the two men whenever they perform impromptu, trivial tasks for him.
Things turn serious, however, when Mr. Moneybags ups the ante, throwing out ever more enticing financial rewards for ever more vile and degrading stunts.Though fairly simple and straightforward on the surface, "Cheap Thrills," written by Trent Haaga and David Chichirillo and directed by E.L Katz, is really a modern-day parable about greed, desperation, exploitation and the dangers of unbridled macho bravado.
Colin, along with his equally amoral wife, Violet (Sara Paxton), on the other hand, represents the callous 1% who amuse themselves at the expense of other people's desperation, going so far as to pit the have- nots against one another for the sheer pleasure of watching them brawling in the dirt over the scraps that are condescendingly thrown their way.
Crude, brutal, at times unwatchable even, "Cheap Thrills," nevertheless, manages to get under the viewer's skin, forcing him to face harsh truths about society and human nature and to ask himself just how far he would be willing to go to get what he needed to survive.
CHEAP THRILLS is a punch to the gut with a cast of characters that's impossible to associate with and it leaves a sour taste in your mouth when the end credits roll, but it's an entertaining funhouse mirror of a movie that goes off the rails to reflect some of the darkest elements of our culture..
He hits the local bar on the way home from work and sees an old high school buddy (Ethan Embry, in an against-type role that completely works) and the two meet up with a strange couple that wants to have a drink with them (David Koechner and Sara Paxton, who are both deliciously hilarious and mysterious).
On the way home, he runs into an old friend at a bar, and the two of them run into an eccentric rich couple played by David Koechner and Sara Paxton (again of The Innkeepers) who propose a twisted series of games for money at their private residence.To compete against each other for large rewards, Craig and Vince engage in more and more disturbing acts of depravity, self-mutilation and moral bankruptcy.This is a shocker, and a hard-to-watch one at that.
Two rich sickos torturing a couple of poor strangers by daring them to do progressively twisted tasks could result in an exploitative B-movie designed to shock the audience for the sake of it.
Cheap Thrills is that better film, and whilst Sara doesn't have particularly much to do, Pat puts on a similarly likable performance as the down on his luck protagonist, who we can all relate to.
The first work of Katz as a director is, in my opinion,a successful debut: the movie is filmed with great sensibility and the art in general is perfectly in tone with what we feel from the very beginning.
If you like shock value in your movies, then look no further than "Cheap Thrills".
Watching his character, Craig, progress through the movie is quite incredible, as you see a seemingly normal and level headed man consistently test his personal boundaries to ensure his family's wellbeing.
"Cheap Thrills" is one of the most unique movies i've seen in a while, and managed to capture the despair and greed that people endure in life perfectly.
The characters in this movie seem very human, and I think many who watch this will find themselves connected to these people in some way despite how twisted the subject material can be.
Vince is a small-time thug who's merely "getting by" until his next inevitable larceny or strong-arm job.The predators are Colin (David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton), two obscenely wealthy LA layabouts who get their kicks dangling thousands of dollars in front of our two protagonists, baiting them with dares that are ever more risky, repulsive, dangerous, violent, and lethal.It all sounds very much like an idea for a left-over Saw installment, and it could have been if the script and performances weren't so strong.
I did not expect to like this movie, but It slowly pulled me in with it's desperation, humor, horror, and ethical dilemmas.Cheap Thrills has a little story, but it's big in suspense, intrigue, and insanity.This movie excels at dark humor.
Before I continue, I would like to make clear that this movie isn't so much a horror film as it is a very dark comedy and the less you know going into this film, the better.
Cheap Thrills is an excellent film with brilliant performances, solid direction and a clever screenplay which brings a potent message about human condition, combined with such black humor that it's difficult for us to determine whether we have to laugh or cry at the display of sadism and perversion portrayed.
I will say that it escalates slower than I might have liked and ends abruptly and shockingly a short while after things had gotten very tense and I had started to pay proper attention and sit on the edge of my seat in anticipation.I enjoyed this film but it is probably not something I would watch again.
It's a decent story with two men who are both pretty much going bankrupt meeting each other while drinking at the bar and then they end up making some money they desperately need when a rich guy starts offering them cash in exchange for performing different challenges for his and his wife's amusement.
The money keeps going up to get them to do more and more things that get bigger and ever crazier.The best part of the movie is David Koechner's performance, he is really hilarious.Worth seeing but don't bother buying it or paying to see it at the theatre, it's just Okay..
But he is played by David Koechner, so I'm not surprised.I didn't know much about the movie before I watched it (I like it that way) so I was constantly guessing and wondering what would happen next.
Cheap Thrills (2013) is an independent film based on the idea that people will do anything for money.
The premise of the film is two down-on-their-luck friends from high school bump into each other at a local dive bar and come across a very wealthy couple looking for a good night on the town.
What I really liked about this film was that despite it's B-movie status, and obvious lack of quality writing, what goes down isn't as expected as you would think.
I also enjoyed Pat Healy as Craig, he's not the kind of character you'd expect to see in a movie like this, and he added an interesting dynamic to a cast that was otherwise pretty droll.
A new father faced with eviction and the sudden loss of his job finds out the hard way in the intensity dark comedy Cheap Thrills (2013), directed by E.L. Katz and written by David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga.
Shot in only twelve days, Cheap Thrills delivers the punches early for its main character Craig, played with a heavy sense of stoic inner turmoil by Pat Healy.
What do you want me to do next?"As the title suggests, director E.L. Katz delivers some cheap thrills in this extremely dark comedy which begins as a standard down on his luck tale of a family man trying to survive through the recession after losing his job and receiving an eviction notice.
This theme is richly explored in Cheap Thrills through two characters (played by Pat Healy and Ethan Embry) who meet a rich married couple (Sara Paxton and David Koechner) in a bar and begin playing an innocent dare game.
The film reminded me a lot of Saw where the rich couple take on the role of Jigsaw as they get a kick out of watching their victims compete for money (instead of their lives).
If you like you films dark and nasty then Cheap Thrills might just be your thing, but it just wasn't for me despite appreciating some of the things it was saying about our society..
Cheap Thrills may not receive the attention it deserves upon its initial release but just like every Tucker and Dale vs Evil, and John Dies At The End it will continue to receive plaudits and gain new fans through word-of-mouth due to its taut, original screenplay (written by David Chirichirillo and Trent Haaga), and a great directorial debut for E.L. Katz (the film won the Audience choice award at SXSW).The premise is simple really and director E.L. Katz does not beat about the bush in setting up the main bulk of the story.
Cheap Thrills follows Craig (Pat Healy), a family man who is struggling financially; who has just had his final eviction notice handed to him due to failing to keep up-to-date with payments and on top of this he has just been fired from his job.
They sit and play catch up and are eventually invited to sit and have drinks with the elusively charming and ridiculously wealthy stranger, Colin (the excellent David "whammy" Koechner), along with his mysterious wife Violet (Sara Paxton).The somewhat enigmatic couple eventually engage the two friends in what can initially be seen as innocuous dares in exchange for a quick couple of bucks.
Thus, it is when one denies and projects their own greed in the form of these types of natural excuses that it becomes most dangerous as becomes a prominent theme in the film.David Koechner's character, Colin, and his wife, Violet, can be seen at the other side of the bar in terms of the present day rich and poor divide, being so god-damned filthy rich that they are pretty much immune to the unwritten rules that are placed upon society and they see their money is simply a tool to buy themselves out of any situation.
But i came across a small gem of a movie A scheming couple put a struggling family man and his old friend through a series of increasingly twisted dares over the course of an evening at a local bar.
And is well worth a watch especially for how intense it becomes halfway through the film Some great acting performances from some actors you barely know (Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner) A dark an gritty backdrop with lots of moral compass story thrown in for good measure this film is well worth the time to watch My rating for this movie 6 out of 10 ps i have never cringed so much in my entire life.
CHEAP THRILLS is another film with a premise about doing 'dares' for hard cash.
This low budget offering particularly reminded me of the rather good Thai film 13: GAME OF DEATH, in which a down on his luck office worker becomes involved in a game whereby he earns money for doing increasingly dangerous or disgusting tasks.CHEAP THRILLS is a film very much in the same style although it's lower key, more realistic, and not as outlandish (or entertaining) as the Thai movie.
'CHEAP THRILLS': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)Dark comedy/horror film about two down on their luck friends who are lured into participating in a rich couple's twisted games.
One of the highlights of this movie is it's cast; which includes Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, David Koechner and Sara Paxton.
Their demented games lead the four back to Colin and Violet's place where things become more and more sick and violent.The movie is a great character study and examination on how far people are willing to go for money (especially those in need).
What I liked most about the film is that Colin and Violet never seem mean or forceful; they're always polite and friendly and only let Craig and Vince fall into darkness of their own free will.
No story, no music no morale to get from it, just a bunch of friends playing truth or dare and doing funny rather awkward things and thinking they are making a movie.
In that sense modern filmmaking has probably hit an all time low with films like this that objectify the human experience which also includes objectifying the sex act along the way but that is small potatoes compared to whee all this stuff is going in the end.
that's all I'll say.The acting and writing is well done.I like the indie and original film style.However I will say I ended up feeling terrible about picking this to watch with a sensitive significant others and it just got too dark for my taste.I have watched, and maybe looked away from parts, of many horror movies, depending on what it was.This just got too gross for me and I regretted watching it.
OK , first of all Cheap Thrills for its level is a good movie and you can watch it without get bored.The scenario it's simple but the point is to see how far can go a person for money.The movie is more or less predictable at some parts and it has shocking and funny moments cause of dark humor it used.
I liked the personality transformation when they loose moral barriers and are eager to reach the endsThe acting is pretty good , especially Pat Healy in his role.It's a watchable movie and I totally recommend for someone who want to watch something different.
There he meets old friend Vince, whom he hasn't seen in five years and begin catching up on what they've been up to since the they last seen each other then they encountered a married couple, Colin and Violet, who get them a few drinks and show off their obscene amount of wealth in doing so and they engage the two friends in a series of dares in exchange for money over the course of the evening, which at first is all in light hearted fun but soon takes a more darker and sinister turn as the stakes are raised and desperation of what the two friends need becomes more apparent.Well this is certainly a ballsy film.
Ballsy in the fact that the 'villains', except for the one moment that Colin and Violet are threatened as Craig and Vince try to rob the money from them, they literally don't do ANYTHING to these days other than plant the seeds for them to make their own choice, it's the greeddesperation if you will of the money on offer that corrupts them and eventually pits them against each other as the friendship between Craig and Vince is used as ammunition against one another as the night goes on that takes them to breaking point.The power aspect comes from Colin and Violet being able to buy their way out of any situation and also show that they aren't stupid millionaires splashing their cash in sake of a long night of 'I dare' games for their cheap thrills when they're under attack.Not going to lie, I still just see Koechner as Champ from the Anchorman films and here I just see him as a darker version of that character without the 'WHAMMY' catchphrases and such but he plays this role well and is a good serious actor.
Ethan Embry does a good job as Vince but the standout actor that we see do a complete 180 throughout this film is from this shy guy to someone that is willing to do anything to get the money to provide for his family and that is Pat Healy.Simple story that's executed pretty well.
CHEAP THRILLS (2013) ** Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner, Amanda Fuller.
A scheming couple put a struggling family man and his old friend through a series of increasingly twisted dares over the course of an evening at a local bar.A pretty straight forward premise that delivers a pretty watchable movie.
Let's crack on with the review...I must admit I thought that the film started out quite strongly; we're introduced to Craig Daniels (Pat Healy) who is a nice and caring family man, he's in employment and seems like a decent guy.
I didn't like any of the characters and I also hated the way that the film ended.
What intrigued me was the dynamic that developed between long time buddies Craig (Pat Healy) and Vince (Ethan Embry) when the prize money offered by Colin (David Koechner) began to escalate.