The Price We Pay – Review
The Price We Pay from respected director Ryuhei Kitamura (Midnight Meat Train), stars Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, The Darkest Hour) Stephen Dorff (Blade, Immortals), Gigi Zumbado (Bridge and Tunnel) and Vernon Wells (Mad Max, Commando).
The film begins with a girl being dumped out of a car at a very empty petrol station, she goes to the toilets and hears someone coming in. The mystery person (seen only by Olive Oyl style boots) waits outside her cubicle, then leaves. The terrified girl then leaves the cubicle and, you guessed it, is knocked out and dragged off somewhere.
Then we see our final girl Grace (Gigi Zumbado) going into a porn shop, trying to make some money. Of course the horrendous human that runs the place has other ideas of how she can pay her debt she already owes him. Luckily for Grace some thieves come into the store to rob it.
The robbery goes sideways with one of the robbers getting shot in the leg and the getaway driver, well, getting away. They take Grace hostage, mainly so they can use her car and go on the run.
As darkness starts to fall, they find a remote farmhouse and decide to take refuge. They go into a barn and a young lad, who seems overly nervous, tells them they can stay in one of the guest house type buildings on the property.
Of course the more scumbaggy of the scumbags (Emile Hirsch) goes to cause some trouble, and they all end up getting more than they bargained for.
The farm hides a subterranean series of cells and a makeshift operating theatre, where the young lads grandad “The Doctor” played by the absolute legend that is Vernon Wells in a way that only the absolute legend Vernon Wells could play him, does some human “parts for sale” type dealings.
The lads family come back, with the girl from the petrol station in a body bag, and all hell breaks loose.
Who will survive the night?
The Price We Pay is a beautifully shot, low budget Wrong Turn style slasher horror. The odd family with a mutant sibling is done to great effect, and Vernon Wells absolutely nails his role as the patriarchal psychopath.
Stephen Dorff gets the more caring criminal side over well, and Emile Hirsch is just on the right side of sinister, unpredictable asshole criminal.
The final part of the film adds a little bit of much needed gore, and it’s done pretty well. The main killer in it being played by 6ft 8inch Erika Ervin a.k.a. Amazon Eve (AHS, Hemlock Grove), is a masterstroke and adds a level of Frankenstein type oddness to the character.
Grace is a fairly likeable character too so you actually may find yourself routing for her by the end of the film and the final kill will be enjoyable for most horror fans and gore hounds out there.
It clips along at a nice pace and with all of the performances being strong, it’s an enjoyable horror film.
Releasing just in time, The Price We Pay makes for the perfect Halloween watch.
The film is set for its UK debut on digital this October from 101 Films.
Released on digital 16 October 2023 – Watch the trailer below.
