Featured Audience Ratings

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] The Pact feels as if it's been constructed from an infinite number of inspirations stretching from classic ghost story horror cinema to the recent wave of found footage films but at the same time because… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] The Pact feels as if it's been constructed from an infinite number of inspirations stretching from classic ghost story horror cinema to the recent wave of found footage films but at the same time because of such great execution you could never actually call it generic. The story is about a woman who moves back to her childhood home to attend her mothers funeral, while she's there she get's thrown around the house by a paranormal presence and tries to find out whether or not it's the spirit of her mother. It get's more complicated as it progresses, to the point where it unfortunately becomes a bit non sensical even despite the fact there's a general lack of well concieved and intricate plotting. But after a fantastic set up and the developent of a creepy atmosphere it runs out of fresh ideas and chooses to throw out the typical cliche's aimlessly, and even adds into the mix the incredibly annoying "final jump", before the credits start to roll and doesn't end the way it should. On the plus side the acting is surpirisingly decent for a low budgeter and Nicholas McCarthy's stylistic direction and haunting visuals are genuinely creepy to the point where I wanted them to be terrifying rather than eery. I honestly wouldn't call it a scary horror film by a stretch, it's a lot creepier than the recent studio backed horror flicks, even if it doesn't explore it's mildly intriguing premise enough. Alhough nothing remarkable certainly worth a look.

• Dead A

  
  Oh my this was damn scary!

• Markus R

  
  As one of the most frustrating horror films I've ever sat through, "The Pact" is an irrational balance of well designed suspense sequences smothered amidst a somewhat confusing and at many times inconceivable storyline. Written and directed by first time feature film… More
  As one of the most frustrating horror films I've ever sat through, "The Pact" is an irrational balance of well designed suspense sequences smothered amidst a somewhat confusing and at many times inconceivable storyline. Written and directed by first time feature film director Nicholas McCarthy, and adapted from McCarthy's own short film, "The Pact" gives an interesting take on the generic haunted house story, but with a script that really makes little sense, containing so many ill advised twists that are bookended by a myriad of distracting plot points concerning people dying and disappearing and nobody seeming to care. And even if one were to put the confusing nature of "The Pact" aside, the larger cloud which looms over it is a conclusion that detours so far off of the spooky/ghost story path from which it began, that it sadly becomes a mundane "who done it" story, the likes of which one would see on The Lifetime Network. The Plot: When a woman dies, her two daughters come to her house only to come in contact with a series of seemingly paranormal happenings. And to make things worse, one night one of the sister's disappears, leaving the other to solve a mystery that coincides with a horrible secret her mother has kept for more than thirty years. Now while this premise does play out to be rather intriguing and the suspense (for most of the film) makes a strong case for low budget horror stories, as soon as crucial plot points begin to arise (beginning around half way through the movie) "The Pact" slowly begins to unravel, resulting in a film which becomes more and more confusing and, in the end, more and more forgettable. Side Note Challenge: Even the title is somewhat confusing since there doesn't seem to be an official pact (or a discussion of said pact) anywhere in the film. So, here is your challenge my loyal readers: Anyone who has seen this film, and is currently reading this, please write me back and enlighten me about when said "pact" takes place. Thusly, you will be crowned as the smartest man/woman who ever lived. Final Thought: Let me reiterate that the only real plus with "The Pact" is how suspenseful it is; at least for the initial hour. But it still doesn't erase that fact that time and time again, due to a very misguided script, this is a film which hits multiple cinematic forks in the road; where one path leads down a predictable but rather interesting road, and another which leads down the path of predictably dull and extremely lackluster. Guess which path "The Pact" goes down, every single time. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Check out my other reviews at: http://www.examiner.com/indie-movie-in-san-jose/markus-robinson Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

• The Movie W

  
  With it's languid pace, minimal sound mix and bare bones plot, "The Pact" resembles the work of Ti West. McCarthy expanded his eleven minute short into a ninety minute feature and therein lies the problem. If the story could be told in eleven minutes, inevitably a… More
  With it's languid pace, minimal sound mix and bare bones plot, "The Pact" resembles the work of Ti West. McCarthy expanded his eleven minute short into a ninety minute feature and therein lies the problem. If the story could be told in eleven minutes, inevitably a feature length adaptation will suffer from pacing issues and boy does this drag. You would think the extra running time would allow for some characterisation but in this regard the movie is paper thin. Despite losing her sister and friend, Lotz never seems too cut up. Likewise her niece is never seen grieving for her mother. Let's face it though, character depth isn't exactly a hallmark of the horror genre and if the movie is atmospheric or suspenseful it's something we can overlook. This is neither atmospheric nor suspenseful though, just dull and uninvolving. It's hard to care about Lotz as she barely seems to care about herself. She appears to be modeled on Linda Hamilton in "Terminator 2" which seems an odd choice for what is essentially a haunted house movie. As is far too often the case with the modern horror film, we get a twist ending. As is also common, the twist raises a tricky plot hole. In this case the supernatural presence does something to one character but not another which would make more sense. Other subplots drift in and out, adding nothing but padding to the story. We get a creepy young girl with psychic powers and an aging Van Dien as a cop whose role only seems to service a "Psycho" homage. Like Ti West, McCarthy's classical directing style is a refreshing break from the usual jump scares and fast cuts of contemporary genre fare. This gives me some interest in where he may go from here. Unfortunately he shares West's major flaw, the inability to write an effective script. Hopefully he can realise this himself as West seems completely ignorant of this fact.

• Alec B

  
  Looking past its occasional narrative faults and mediocre performances, its smartly directed. McCarthy utilizes a refreshing economic approach (Sparse score and effects) that makes the film unnerving in several sequences. Using such a seemingly bland house as the major set piece was a… More
  Looking past its occasional narrative faults and mediocre performances, its smartly directed. McCarthy utilizes a refreshing economic approach (Sparse score and effects) that makes the film unnerving in several sequences. Using such a seemingly bland house as the major set piece was a genius idea.

• Daniel P

  
  Efficient, dread-building supernatural thriller that is beautifully shot and has a clutch of strong and unusual performances. The dialogue sounds a little flat and could use a polish, and the need for one final scare let things down a little, but what will linger in the memory more… More
  Efficient, dread-building supernatural thriller that is beautifully shot and has a clutch of strong and unusual performances. The dialogue sounds a little flat and could use a polish, and the need for one final scare let things down a little, but what will linger in the memory more than makes up for that. An impressive film.

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