4 Star

Tense, Gripping and Creative Horror.

Horror fan writer/director Ryûhei Kitamura (Versus, The Midnight Meat Train) strikes once again with a brutal killfest where a robbery goes very, very wrong, some could say it’s Karma. Others might say the man is on a mission. Either way, there will be blood spilled in this inventive horror thriller. A great one for the horror/slasher fans.

Late at night John (Jesse Kinser, The Dead of Night) has been a naughty boy, playing around with Carly (Sabina Mach, Expectant, Lift), but now he is feeling guilty and wants Carly gone, so he unceremoniously dumps her at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Miffed but wily, she has stolen his wallet, which she empties while sat in a toilet cubicle. When she hears a lot of noise and someone enters the restroom, thinking it is John returning for his wallet, she throws it over the door, and the person leaves. Carly thinks it is time to get out of here, only to find that when she opens the door she is blinded by the lights of a big truck, then she feels a dart hit her, lights out.

Meanwhile, in Rio Ariba County, Grace (Gigi Zumbado, Pitch Perfect 2, Run Sweetheart Run) is feeling the pressure of not seeing her loan shark Mr Fuller (Heath Hensley, 1883, Lowriders) for four weeks. Armed with her last precious item she ventures into the Trader Man Pawn shop. She heads into the back to plead for more money. But while she is trying to get it, she spots the security cameras, an armed robbery is in progress, Mr Fuller sees what Grace is looking at and springs into action with his hand cannon. Which he promptly uses on Shane’s leg (Tanner Zagarino, Deadly Payback (TV Movie)) brother of fellow robber the psychotic Alex (Emile Hirsch, Lords of Dogtown, Pursuit). Mr Fuller comes to a prompt end at Alex’s gun, as ex service medic Cody (Stephen Dorff, Space Truckers, Leatherface) takes stock of the situation. They grab one of the assistants and head into the back where the safe is kept. Grace sees this on the monitors and hides in a cupboard. With all the noise of gunshots, the getaway driver panics and drives off.

They are stuck, until they discover Grace and decide that they will take her and her car, and use her as leverage, much to the annoyance of the murderer Ale, but they need to get the bullet out of Shane’s leg, so they need to find somewhere to hold up in. After spotting a police roadblock, they take a detour down a long and lonely road, and it only gets worse as Graces car breaks down miles from anywhere. It is not till dark that they can pick out the lights of a farm in the distance.

Cody and Grace see that working together might be beneficial to the whole group, so they volunteer to investigate the light barn, they find a young man cleaning the stables. He is Danny (Tyler Sanders, Just Add Magic: Mystery City (TV Series)) and he is persuaded to let them stay in one of the farm hands cottages.

They think they are on to a good thing as they try to sort out Shane’s problems, but as ever, Alex is curious, and he is about to uncover…

The price We Pay is a great practical effects horror/thriller that will have you wincing and shouting out as the deaths get more creative till the gross finale.

The Price We Pay is available on Digital Now