Cheap Thrills

There are satisfying echoes of Stephen King’s sly black humour in this deliciously nasty comedy thriller. It’s the story of recently sacked, about-to-be-evicted dad Craig (Pat Healy), who is seduced into depravity by the promise of financial redemption. Craig is drowning his sorrows in a bar when he meets an old school friend, Vince (Ethan Embry). Enter mystery couple Colin (David Koechner) and his trophy girlfriend Violet (Sara Paxton), who are willing to pay Craig and Vince to complete innocent bar room pranks. As the night wears on the pair perform a series of ever more humiliating tasks. At Colin’s ritzy LA apartment, the stakes are raised and the atmosphere becomes more sinister, as Craig and Vince compete to win bigger cash rewards. The casting of comedian Koechner as the sleazy host is a masterstroke, but all four actors relish the salty dialogue and farcical cruelty, as the film moves towards a bleak but satisfying ending.