After a hold up in a pawn shop goes wrong Cody (Stephen Dorff), John (Jessie Kinser) and his psychotic brother Alex (Emile Hirsh) take a customer (Gigi Zumbado) as a hostage and head off in her car.
After being diverted off the road the quartet are forced to hide out in a remote farm where the only occupant is a young boy (Tyler Sanders) who warns then to leave before his grandfather comes back.
Needless to say they don’t heed is words and later on find a secret labyrinth under the farm where it makes them realise that they should have listened to the young boy.
It’s no spoiler to say that they end up being captured by the crazy grandfather who has more than one surprise in store for his unwelcomed guests.
Directed by a veteran of such B movie shlok, Ryuhei Kitamura whose probably best known for directing Vinny Jones in a largely forgotten slasher flick from 2008 called Midnight Meat, The Price We Pay is the type of film, much like the not dissimilar Texas Chain Saw Massacre or The Hills Have Eyes, that if made in the 80’s and 90s would have probably gained a cult status in cinemas through word of mouth.
The Price We Pay is a hugely enjoyable slice of horror nonsense that doesn’t take itself too seriously, the last 20 minutes, unintentional or not, nearly morphs into a comedy.
If this was 40 years ago The Price We Pay would probably have become something of a horror classic. Now, in the digital age, it’s buried amongst numerous other releases which is a shame as it’s the type of film that, if watched with friends and with a few beers and pizzas, makes for an enjoyable nights entertainment.
If you have a strong stomach and a love of horror films then The Price We Pay is certainly worth searching out.
