Title – The Price We Pay (2022) 

Director – Ryûhei Kitamura (Versus) 

Cast – Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Gigi Zumbado, Vernon Wells, Tyler Sanders

Plot – After a robbery goes wrong, criminals Alex (Hirsch) and Cody (Dorff) along with a hostage from the botched operation Grace (Zumbado) find themselves taking shelter on a remote farming property that hides a dark and disturbing secret. 

“What is this place?”

Review by Eddie on 30/10/2023

Directed by Japanese filmmaker Ryûhei Kitamura, a director who gained notoriety with grizzly efforts such as cult favourite Versus from 2000 and also the Bradley Cooper starring The Midnight Meat Train from 2006, The Price We Pay is a B-movie with significant promise but sadly much of that potential is wasted on a rather bland and dull Hostel like gorefest that will ensure this little direct to streaming nasty will struggle to find many fans. 

A familiar feeling low-budget affair that managed to attract the talented if far from operating in their peak powers Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff to the lead roles of small time criminals Alex and Cody, two men who alongside their hostage Grace (played by up and comer Gigi Zumbado) discover their farm set hideaway isn’t a great place to bunker down, Price has a few early signs that we could be in for a delightfully bonkers ride but despite some as to be expected gory delights courtesy of the mind of Kitamura, Price is a cheap and soulless effort that lacks any smarts, charms or surprises to make it worth your time. 

Early on the signs for the film appear to be pointing in the right direction, there’s little time wasted in getting into the action and you know from past experiences that Kitamura, Hirsch and Dorff are all more than capable of delivering the goods but all three experienced feature film players don’t bring anything significant to the tale here with the film really falling by the wayside when Vernon Wells Australian “doctor” appears on the scene delivering cringe dialogue and exposition that is trying to add weight to a film that should’ve embraced its over the top nature in more ways than bloodthirsty carnage. 

There’s no denying that this carnage is what many will remember Price for and whether it’s some makeshift operations, flying gas canisters or fencing tools misused in the most terrifying of ways, Kitamura isn’t at all afraid to get messy with his deadly set pieces, it’s just a shame he wasn’t as focused on his movies other components, something that might just have helped him and his stars deliver a new age nasty to appease horror hounds insatiable appetites. 

Another key element to the failings of this under the radar release is the performance of Hirsch, who appears to be on a completely different movie set to everyone else as his wide eyed demented criminal who often likes to speak in low whisper like fashion chews and devours the scenery in a distracting manner, ensuring whenever his Alex is front and centre, Price feels more like an unplanned comedy. 

Showing so much promise in his early career with the likes of Into the Wild, Alpha Dog, Milk and Killer Joe, the last decade or so has not been kind to Hirsch whose troubled personal life has seeped into his professional career with a string of duds and misfires tarnishing the actors reputation, making one wonder if the remainder of his once promising outlook is now destined to produce more entries like this one that squashes any chance of a revival. 

Final Say – 

A few suspenseful and bloodthirsty set pieces help save The Price We Pay from the scrapheap but overall nothing is able to save this disappointing b-grader from being a forgettable and cheap feeling exercise in shock value entertainment.  

2 barbed wire fences out of 5 

P.S – 

Good luck to anyone willing to unleash a worse legitimate piece of promotional marketing than this below poster!