Cheap Thrills (2014)
81%RT Audience Score: 69%
Awards & Nominations: 9 wins & 8 nominations
Gleefully nasty and darkly hilarious, Cheap Thrills lives down to its title in the best possible way
If you’re looking for a movie that’s both disturbing and hilarious, Cheap Thrills is the perfect pick. It’s like a twisted game show where the contestants are willing to do anything for money, even if it means getting covered in blood and guts. The characters are both sympathetic and despicable, and the actors give it their all. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for a wild ride, Cheap Thrills won’t disappoint.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, New Regency Productions, Pascal Pictures,
Distributor
Drafthouse Films
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2014
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 25m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 21, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 27, 2014
Genre(s)
Comedy/Mystery & Thriller
Keyword(s)
Cheap Thrills, Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner, E.L Katz, Gabriel Cowan, Travis Stevens, John Suits, David Chirchirillo, Trent Haaga, Comedy, Mystery, Thriller, $59.4K, Drafthouse Films, MPAA rating, reviewed by Kate Muir, Mark Kermode, Geoffrey Macnab, Donald Clarke, Jeremy Aspinall, Leslie Felperin, Pat Healy as Craig, Ethan Embry as Vince, Sara Paxton as Violet, David Koechner as Colin, Amanda Fuller as Audrey, Eric Neil Gutierrez as Enrique, produced by Gabriel Cowan, Travis Stevens, John Suits, directed by E.L Katz, written by David Chirchirillo, Trent Haaga
Worldwide gross: $59,424
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $74,265
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,053
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,099
US/Canada gross: $59,424
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $74,265
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,705
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,638
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $23,293
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,457
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $200,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $249,949
Production budget ranking: 2,131
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $134,598
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$310,282
ROI to date (est.): -81%
ROI ranking: 1,886
Ethan Embry – Vince
Sara Paxton – Violet
David Koechner – Colin
Amanda Fuller – Audrey
Eric Neil Gutierrez – Enrique
Director(s)
E.L. Katz
Writer(s)
David Chirchirillo, Trent Haaga
Producer(s)
Gabriel Cowan, Travis Stevens, John Suits
Film Festivals
South by Southwest
Awards & Nominations
9 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (100) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (88) | Rotten (12)
Gird your stomach for Cheap Thrills, a bloody but enjoyably ironic horror which enters that queasy zone where Michael Haneke’s Funny Games meets a reality-TV bush tucker trial.
September 23, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
You can take the result as either smart satire or sick schlock – frankly, it works on both scores.
June 8, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
E L Katz’s film delivers exactly what the title promises. It is a very bloody, very violent fairground ride of a movie that ratchets up the tension as its two hapless anti-heroes compete desperately for money.
June 6, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The film-makers’ undisguised glee in the revolting catalogue of horrors is a delight to behold, and the sense of naked misanthropy is queasily invigorating throughout.
June 6, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s a thought-provoking ride, particularly in a post-financial crisis world where a combination of desperation and temptation can make anyone consider doing the unthinkable.
June 6, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Jeremy Aspinall
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
The script is smarter than the premise sounds, with writers David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga dispensing enough information to make victims both sympathetic and despicable, the instigators charismatic and sinister.
June 5, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Leslie Felperin
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
caustic and cruel and somehow simultaneously super funny
July 6, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Cheap Thrills is clever, disturbing and eyebrow raising, but in terms of story, it is anything but cheap.
November 20, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5
Katie Smith-Wong
Flick Feast
A cheap, quick thrill ride that may be entertaining and even vicious, but without any kind of real payoff.
August 29, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
The sort of original, intense, darkly comic character-driven thrill ride that I’d love to see more genre filmmakers working on
August 5, 2019
Paul Freitag-Fey
Daily Grindhouse
It’s good cheap quickfire shock-horror genre thrills, appropriately well directed and well scripted, a potential cult classic, with some blacker than black humour thrown in.
June 5, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Alexa Dalby
Dog and Wolf
It’s a compact, twisted, delightful (if you’re into this sort of thing) nugget of exploitation that thrives on committed performances and sound craftsmanship.
April 3, 2019 | Rating: 8.5/10
Bernard Boo
Way Too Indie…
Plot
Craig (Pat Healy) is 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 runs into an old friend (Ethan Embry). The 2 are roped into a round of drinks by a charismatic and obscenely wealthy stranger (David Koechner) along with his mysterious wife (Sara Paxton). The couple engages the pair 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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner, and Amanda Fuller in the cast.
E.L.-Katz.jpg
