The Pact (2012)

Wow! Such a good movie.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

"The Pact" is one of those films I've had a mild interest in but never really gave much thought to for whatever reason. A low-budget horror release based on the short film of the same name, the film seemingly has a lot going for it thanks to mild critical praise and plenty of positive fan reviews that proclaim it a sharp and terrifying excursion into the unknown. And while I do confess there is a lot of fun to be had with the film... I just can't help but feel it's a wholly mediocre experience in the end. It has a few good jolts and a handful of entertaining twists and turns, but it's quite a pedestrian affair. There's not much new here to be seen, and what is presented is often a slave to cliché and not all that interesting. And as a result... I don't really think it's particularly good or compelling.Annie Barlow (Caity Lotz) reluctantly returns home to attend the funeral of estranged mother. However, the already dreary event has taken an even darker turn... Annie's sister Nicole (Agnes Bruckner) has evidently gone missing and she is haunted by increasingly disturbing presences and dreams while inside of her childhood home. Soon enough, it becomes clear that something sinister is at play... and it may be connected to an old, unsolved murder case involving a figure known as the "Judas Killer."Written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy, there certainly is a decent amount to enjoy in the proceedings of "The Pact." The story takes a few fascinating twists and turns throughout its run-time and thanks to a relatively fast pace, you're never left overtly bored at any time. Combined with decent cinematography (at least for it's $400,000 budget) and some genuinely eerie set design, McCarthy's production is just competent enough that I cannot wholly dismiss the film or objectively say it is particularly terrible.What I can say, though... it's sub-par. Quite sub-par.From the first minute, the film feels quite uneasy with itself, and it has a tendency to meander on sometimes uninteresting sequences in an attempt at atmosphere-building. This would be admirable, but the film doesn't do much with the material outside of the most predictable of clichés... and even then, it doesn't do them particularly well. The second you see a character web-chatting with another, you know the person on the other end is going to ask "Whose that behind you?" The second the camera settles on a creepy door in the distance, you know it's going to slowly creak open and then cut to a shot of our lead looking frightened. The second the audio goes quiet, you know it's going to suddenly punctuate the scene with a loud crash. It's just so predictable as to lose all impact, and the film really only "got to me" in moments that were too few and far between to really leave me genuinely frightened.I also found the performances unanimously uninspired and dull. Particularly our lead Lotz, who is trying her hardest to play a tough-girl with a chip on her shoulder, but can't even come close to feeling real. I hate to say it... but I actually cringed a few times while watching her. And I'm not one to usually do that. It's all the more confusing because I actually quite like Lotz in other works I've seen her in... she's just dreadfully miscast here. Supporting roles by the likes of Bruckner and even Casper Van Dien seem well-cast but under-utilized and unable to do much with the material provided. And everyone comes across as just cookie-cutters of characters we've seen done far better in other, similarly far better films.McCarthy's visual guidance of the film left a lot to be desired for me, and it's just so textbook I couldn't find myself invested. Maybe it's just me... but it felt like just about every single shot in the film (at least in the first half) was exactly the same. Just long, smooth stedi-cam shots that follow the characters for a few moments, before letting them leave frame and cutting to the next long, smooth stedi- cam shot that followed them for a few moments before letting them leave frame. To me, it just screams "lack of thought." And even more, I felt his script was lacking and didn't have any common sense to it. Characters behave in typical "stupid mode" as is usual with horror films (one scene in the first fifteen minutes where Annie explores the house at night in particular had me laughing at just how ridiculously stupid she came across), there are some really jarring jumps in the tonality and genre at key points, and the focus seems to be a little troubled.Still, I can't say I didn't have a bit of a good time watching it. Maybe it's because the film was predominately a low-profile release, but I can forgive some of its faults. It's not really a terrible film. Just a mildly enjoyable but incredibly troubled one. That said... I can't forgive enough that I would go out of my way to recommend it. I would just suggest skipping it unless you're very intrigued by the premise. If you think this looks like the best horror film of the past decade, you might get some fun out of it. But in my mind, there are enough other, far better horror films out there. This is just sort- of a forgettable affair. You'd be better off checking out "Insidious", "The Babadook", "The Changeling" or "Session 9" for films with a similar tone that are executed with far more quality and style.I give "The Pact" a slightly below average 4 out of 10.

There is a sequel to this film which has the unimaginative title "The Pact II". That film is not better than its precursor, but the original is definitely worse. Low budget, the action taking place almost entirely in one house, it is difficult to know what to make of it. A young woman - a single mother with a young daughter - a mentally disturbed sister and a recently deceased mother who was far from an ideal parent, then strange things begin happening.Is she being haunted? It's either her or the house, but here's the good news, this is a friendly spirit, or at least one that is not malevolent. The bad news is that there is a genuinely malevolent presence in the house, one that appears to be terrestrial. The film is deliberately slow, attempting to build an atmosphere; this fails miserably. The climax is both unconvincing and implausible, even if you make allowance for the poltergeist. The best it has to offer is our attractive damsel, but even blonde hair and excessive cleavage can't rescue this one.

Nicole Barlow (Agnes Bruckner) is organizing her mother's funeral but her sister Annie (Caity Lotz) is reluctant to come. Nicole disappears in her mother's home. Annie arrives and attends the funeral while Nicole is missing. Cousin Liz, Nicole's daughter Eva and Annie return to mother's home. Liz goes missing. Nicole is attacked by an invisible force and barely escapes with Eva. The police doesn't believe her. Officer Bill Creek investigates with Annie and they find a mysterious room. She takes psychic Stevie and Stevie's brother Giles to the house.The movie starts off confused and not that compelling. Bruckner starts but she's not the lead. It's an opportunity to do something scary to open this movie but it doesn't do that. It's a bit of a muddle as Caity Lotz takes over. Haley Hudson makes a nice appearance as a weird psychic. It starts an interesting better atmospheric second half.

Zero interest... I have watched it because I like horror movie,but... ...it's not scary at all! And it's boring as hell. Nothing happen.I am really surprised the score is even so high for such a bad movie.It's why i write this review, to say the truth. Some other boring movies have at least beautiful pictures, songs, etc This movie has nothing good for himself.I am really curious who give a score more than 1/10 for this movie...The story is empty.The actors have zero feeling (maybe they also know this movie is bad...).There is really nothing to expect from this movie.