Cheap Thrills Review

Cheap Thrills

written by David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga

directed by E. L. Katz

starring Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, David Koechner, Sara Paxton, Amanda Fuller

running time: 88 minutes

Not Rated

Ah, Cheap Thrills.

This was a great film.

Some of you might have been dismayed by its trailer; an aggressive, two-plus minutes of dares, drinks and debauchery, but you might be surprised by its layered, darkly funny plot and dedicated - convincingly so - performances. I say ‘convincingly’ because the premise itself seems hard to realistically pull off - yet it does. And this is in large part due to the impeccably cast Pat Healy, Ethan Embry and David Koechner.

Craig (Healy) and Vince (Embry) make an interesting pair. They are more than just two drunk dudes accepting increasingly ridiculous dares for cash; Craig, freshly jobless and with a family to provide for, and Vince, an old friend from college with similar empty-wallet circumstances, take on each dare with increasing determination. Along with their economical reasons, you get a fine sense that these two reunited pals never put to rest some sort of hostility they had for each other in their college days. Soon, you wonder whether it is their need for money or their need to one-up each other that is keeping them from walking out of Colin and Violet’s (Koechner and Paxton) front door.

And Koechner. It’s a truly weird film to refer to as among his best performances, but hot damn, it is. He is sinister and yet, as one-half of the mysteriously wealthy couple, he grounds some tenderness into Colin’s warped soul. He avoids playing Colin with any camp and although he explains his motives (he’s doing this for Violet’s birthday), you never quite feel like believing him. He also has an intriguing counterpart in a mesmerizing, near-mute Paxton, who keeps us wondering throughout the entire film why she ended up with a guy like him.

There is a scene late in Cheap Thrills that poignantly represents the bigger story, as a slideshows is displayed on the wall above a character about to make a crucial decision. Saying anymore would spoil the fun, but it’s the moments like this that inject the film with heart.

I want to remain vague about the plot-points because I don’t stand for reviews that purposefully overshare plot details (I’m looking at you, The New Yorker). Know what you’re getting into whenever you choose to go see a film. Check out the other work of the director/writer(s) behind it, scope a brief summary of the plot, know the MPAA rating, and if you feel so obliged, visit Rotten Tomatoes for a peak at the critics’ grades. Just don’t wreck it for yourself. Remain unsaturated. Every movie deserves to surprise (unless you’re the type of person who LOVES spoilers *shudder*). And with Cheap Thrills, know that you are getting into an engaging, gripping, funny and pitch-black time at the cinema. Cheap? Anything but.

An Interview with Cheap Thrills co-writer David Chirchirillo

How did you and co-writer Trent Haaga come up with the concept for Cheap Thrills?

DC: All credit goes to Trent Haaga here. He wrote a script something like seven years ago called "Money For Something" which was about these two guys who are propositioned by a rich couple to compete in these crazy challenges for money. Evan (E.L. Katz) read it and really dug the idea, but wanted to do a different telling of the same concept. Evan wanted a more "party gone wrong" angle than a straight up thriller, so he began to talk to writers. This process went on for a few years (I think, I'm not totally sure about the timeline here) before it came to me and I pitched what eventually became the version that exists today.

What was the process like writing a screenplay with another person?

DC: The only time I've ever written something with another person was after college; my best friend, Joe, and I wrote and directed a short together. There's a good chance I wouldn't be able to write with anyone other than him, because we've gotten into so many fights and arguments over the years, that they don't even affect us anymore.

What was it like bringing the story to the screen with first-time director E.L. Katz?

DC: Evan was great to work with. He was one of my first friends out here that was a professional in the industry, and we have similar eating habits, so we would always go to these really obscure, bizarre restaurants together. He'd let me pick his brain about the industry and give me advice on this or that, all while trying to decipher a menu at some hole-in-the-wall spot in Koreatown. When it came time to write Cheap Thrills, he pretty much left me alone during the outlining process. After I turned that in, he really dug it, gave me some great notes, and then I went off to write the first draft. I wouldn't realize until later that that process is fairly unique. Lots of times, the development process is very hands-on - I have to turn in 15 pages at a time, then get notes, then rewrite, then turn in another 15 pages, etc. Although I understand the reasoning behind this, I work best when I'm allowed to go off and work and make mistakes and follow through with them and then go back and say, "This did or didn't work and here's why." Eventually with Cheap Thrills, once the first draft was done, Evan and Travis Stevens, the producer, became a lot more hands on, but it was really nice to have that first draft all to myself to really get in the heads of the characters and story I was writing.

According to IMDb, a few of your credits belong to the horror genre, including the upcoming ABCs of Death 2. Were you drawn to the genre naturally? Has it been something you’ve always wanted to write for?

DC: I'm a definitely a fan of horror, and I know the genre so well that it was easier to start there when I began writing. I'm also into whatever freaks people out, and horror movies generally have a rebellious quality to them, so that's appealing. However, I wouldn't consider Cheap Thrills a horror movie, although there are  horrific things that happen. The ABCs of Death segment I wrote for Evan isn't horror either (I think that's about all I'm allowed to reveal at this point). I like horror movies because they can thrill as well as be about something.  But I'd say any quality genre movie can do the same thing, so I'm not necessarily disposed to one genre or the other.

What are some of your favorite movies and why?

DC: Favorite movies huh? There's a lot, and I think considering the movie Cheap Thrills is, people will find my choices surprising. I think Children Of Men is the movie I most want to emulate. To me, it's pretty much perfect: fantastic story, deep character work, and scenes that are as thrilling as anything ever put to screen. I recently re-watched Rachel Getting Married for the first time since I saw it in the theater, and was absolutely blown away by it. Pulp Fiction, Fresh, Cannibal Holocaust, Starship Troopers, Forty Guns, Session 9, Can't Hardly Wait (which makes Ethan Embry's casting in Cheap Thrills even more awesome), Point Break, Moonstruck. Those aren't necessarily my favorites, but they're movies that mean or have meant a lot to me at point or another in my life. If I can make a movie half as good as those I'll be pretty damn thrilled.