13 Sins (2014)

This is a really interesting film that asks the question, what will you do for money? Kill a fly for a thousand dollars? Eat the dead fly to cover your fiancé's debts?This is the quandary that our anti-hero, Elliott Brindle (portrayed amiably by Mark Webber), has to face when his phone rings one night while he's out for a drive. The voice on the other end of the line is both eloquent, haunting, and scary in equal measures (voiced brilliantly by George Coe and sounding a lot like Angus Scrimm from Phantasm - I just wanted him to say, "BOY!"), seems to know everything about Elliott's life and circumstances... he's lost his job... his mentally handicapped brother will have to go back into care... his racist father has to leave his assisted living residence, to move in with his son and his coloured fiancé,The voice assures him that in thirty-two hours he could have enough money to make all his problems disappear.What would you do? Elliott accepts the thirteen challenges and as the hour's progress the trials get progressively nastier and deadlier.Daniel Stamm who directed the film and along with David Birke wrote the screenplay does a good job of pacing the film through a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, building a nice tension. I knew the twist was coming at the end, though the writers do a good job of giving you a few possible outcomes to try and keep you off balance.The film's strength and enjoyability is helped by having three strong actors in the cast; Ron Perlman (Detective Chilcoat), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Vogler), and Tom Bower (Elliot's Father). Even Devon Graye playing the handicapped Michael Brindle does a decent portrayal, which I didn't find too disagreeable at all.Even though this is primarily a thriller the vagueness and unknown origin of the voice and it's all-encompassing knowledge, along with the conspiracy theory of pure evil adds a possible supernatural / religious angle to the story. Those parts of the story along with the style of direction and building of tension and fear make this a Horror film too.I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would have as this type of story has the probability to be full of clichés and familiar scenes. However, even though some of the clichés and scene's are there the acting and direction make them seem fresh. There have been reviews stating that the ending is an anticlimax and flat. Though I like the ending as it resembles reality.If you like this style of film and story then give this a try and you shouldn't be too disappointed. But if this is on and your car has broken down so you can't visit friends and family, then give this a look, you may enjoy it.

It is a remake of the Thai film '13 Beloved'. Not seen the original film, but this is a very familiar theme. Some good films were already made out of it and this one is slightly different. It is about a man who is expecting a baby with his girlfriend who he is going marry very soon. But he gets fired from his job and clueless about raising a child and maintain the family. Then a strange phone call gives him a series of challenges to win with a greater reward. It all begins with a small easy task and then begin to complicate when he can't back off as per the rules he has agreed. Now how far he goes to finish it off what he had started was told in the rest of the film.Since this is not a fresh idea for a film, I expected the story to be very good, but a little disappointed. At least it opened well and overall first half was much better. Later the film did not stand up to what it was promised in the earlier. But kind of unpredictable way it was developed. Seeing how the film was received, those who liked the original version did not like this one. That happens all the time as expected. Even though if you haven't seen the Thai film, the chances are slim one to enjoy it, especially if you have seen and liked the films like '12 Rounds', 'The Game', including the recent 'Nerve'. Not bad for watching at once, but instead I would suggest other similar title if you ask me.5/10

"13 Sins" is an engagingly daft, amusing (in a very black kind of way), and fairly disconcerting 'horror' film that finds wimp Mark Webber, (very good), being offered a fortune by a nameless voice on the telephone, (the Devil himself?), if he completes 13 tasks, each one more bizarre and horrific than the one before. It's a novel idea and very nicely handled by director Daniel Stamm and it came and went without anyone really knowing it was there, (a lack of names in the cast probably didn't help; the biggest name here is Ron Perlman who drifts in and out and is obviously there for the pay cheque). It may be no classic but it's certainly worth seeking out.

Well, that was a nice and unexpected surprise.This is a remake of a Thai movie called "13 Beloved (2006)", which I had watched 4 years earlier and had enjoyed. I vaguely remembered the original, so it didn't ruin the movie for me and thus I can't really compare the two.A man is invited to participate on a phone game, giving him challenges.Very enjoyable psychological thriller. Good music, good wring, good acting and good camera work. The movie keeps you on the edge almost all the time.The ending is so-so, but it doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the movie.Funny, now that I read my review of the original movie, it's almost identical to my review of this movie. Heh.