Writer & Director: Nicholas McCarthy
Starring: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien & Mark Steger
Review Written By: Michael Dalton
Starring: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien & Mark Steger
Review Written By: Michael Dalton
The Pact mostly bored me for the majority of its running time, and then terrified me in its final minute. Like Silent House, The Pact is a (relatively) bloodless and psychological affair, which focuses around a woman unearthing the secrets of her family’s past. Unlike Silent House however, The Pact does not contain the same engaging mystery, the same strong lead performance or the multiple moments of terror.
I appreciate the attitude of The Pact the same way I appreciated the attitude of Silent House. The Pact is a horror film that is attempting to create an atmosphere and tell a story. I admired everything it was trying to achieve, however in my opinion it just didn’t achieve any of them. I didn’t find the characters or the plot interesting or engaging and the majority of the scares were predictable. The ultimately revealed basic premise behind the film could have been really well exploited over the course of a whole film. However, akin to Silent House, it appears as if this film’s best, most interesting and scariest moments are reserved to a rushed conclusion, built-up to with needlessly overstretched periods of tedium.
The performances aren’t terrible yet they aren’t particularly memorable or noteworthy either. If better actors had been given the same material perhaps I would have been more engaged, however both the dialogue and the acting seemed to be as weak as each other. The film has a very slow pace, which is something to appreciate if the film is concurrently building an atmosphere and putting you on edge, however as the film wasn’t doing that it was mostly a boring experience. I don’t like to simply dismiss films as boring, however, The Pact is boring. It’s boring because the characters and story were not interesting or at least not presented in an interesting manner. If you’re looking for a horror film The Pact will disappoint you, as its scariest moment comes in its very final scene, which many may not still be around for if watching this at home. Due to its slow and ineffective pace, the film felt much longer than it was.
There was no real atmosphere built up over the course of the film and while clichéd, I wish the entire film had taken place in the house, rather than hopping around locations. While it was realistic that the lead character would want to leave the house, in doing so, the house isn’t built up as the atmospheric presence that it could and should have considering what it contains. Regarding what the house does contain and the film’s mystery, I found it rather poorly done. I’m not somebody who needs all the answers, however I can imagine many people scratching their heads at the end of this film and asking, why was it called The Pact? While I understand and frequently support a desire to keep things mysterious, avoid clunky expository dialogue and trust the audience to figure it out, there was a lot of potential to do a lot more with this revelation and mystery, that was perhaps needlessly ignored due to a fear of surrendering a quality that would perhaps endear it less to critics or make it lose its “artistic integrity” This was a film which at times, could have done with being a bit more conventional.
As this film is a directorial debut, that perhaps goes some way towards describing the film’s flaws. There are a couple of moments in here, a central idea and an ambition that I can appreciate and lead me to think that this director could make great horror films in the future. Therefore while ultimately unsatisfying, there is a little eye in the hole of the wall, which suggests it could be a sign of great things to come.
I appreciate the attitude of The Pact the same way I appreciated the attitude of Silent House. The Pact is a horror film that is attempting to create an atmosphere and tell a story. I admired everything it was trying to achieve, however in my opinion it just didn’t achieve any of them. I didn’t find the characters or the plot interesting or engaging and the majority of the scares were predictable. The ultimately revealed basic premise behind the film could have been really well exploited over the course of a whole film. However, akin to Silent House, it appears as if this film’s best, most interesting and scariest moments are reserved to a rushed conclusion, built-up to with needlessly overstretched periods of tedium.
The performances aren’t terrible yet they aren’t particularly memorable or noteworthy either. If better actors had been given the same material perhaps I would have been more engaged, however both the dialogue and the acting seemed to be as weak as each other. The film has a very slow pace, which is something to appreciate if the film is concurrently building an atmosphere and putting you on edge, however as the film wasn’t doing that it was mostly a boring experience. I don’t like to simply dismiss films as boring, however, The Pact is boring. It’s boring because the characters and story were not interesting or at least not presented in an interesting manner. If you’re looking for a horror film The Pact will disappoint you, as its scariest moment comes in its very final scene, which many may not still be around for if watching this at home. Due to its slow and ineffective pace, the film felt much longer than it was.
There was no real atmosphere built up over the course of the film and while clichéd, I wish the entire film had taken place in the house, rather than hopping around locations. While it was realistic that the lead character would want to leave the house, in doing so, the house isn’t built up as the atmospheric presence that it could and should have considering what it contains. Regarding what the house does contain and the film’s mystery, I found it rather poorly done. I’m not somebody who needs all the answers, however I can imagine many people scratching their heads at the end of this film and asking, why was it called The Pact? While I understand and frequently support a desire to keep things mysterious, avoid clunky expository dialogue and trust the audience to figure it out, there was a lot of potential to do a lot more with this revelation and mystery, that was perhaps needlessly ignored due to a fear of surrendering a quality that would perhaps endear it less to critics or make it lose its “artistic integrity” This was a film which at times, could have done with being a bit more conventional.
As this film is a directorial debut, that perhaps goes some way towards describing the film’s flaws. There are a couple of moments in here, a central idea and an ambition that I can appreciate and lead me to think that this director could make great horror films in the future. Therefore while ultimately unsatisfying, there is a little eye in the hole of the wall, which suggests it could be a sign of great things to come.
Summary: Tellingly a debut and besides from its very final moments, lacking in tension and terror.
Rating: 4+/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
Rating: 4+/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
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