El pacto

As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother's death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home.

First, let me praise Casper VanDien, who (to put it bluntly) did not suck. I cannot say he is particularly known for his superb acting, having done a number of cheesy movies, but VanDien shows off his acting chops here. This kind of performance could get you a supporting actor Oscar if it was not in a horror film.

I heard the judges at Sundance were praising Nick McCarthy's direction, and that is absolutely fair. Above all else, the camera is the star here. Maybe we should give that credit to the cinematographer (Bridger Nielson), but it is hard to draw that line -- could one have been great without the other? Alan Bacchus said that the film was "smart, well written and genuinely scary". He is right on all three counts. I rarely find horror films scary (I am immune to their nonsense), but I actually had to peek through my fingers at one point. I am embarrassed to say it, but this is true. Well done!

Written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy, "The Pact" stars Caity Lotz as Annie, a young woman who returns to her childhood home following the death of her mother. Her sister and cousin have disappeared and it appears that there is some supernatural entity inhabiting the house. As Annie digs deeper, she learns of a serial killer whose last victim may have had some kind of connection to her mother. Annie begins putting the information together, revealing shocking and terrifying secrets.

Sound clichéd? Well believe me, it's not. What starts out as your typical run-of-the-mill haunted house film becomes one of the most intriguing and horrifying horror movies of the year. Not many movies scare me half as badly as "The Pact" did. I can tell you honestly that this film messed with my head and left me fearing my own house.

Caity Lotz does a great acting job, especially since she has such little dialogue. She really gets her feelings across by body movement and facial expressions. Another actress who really stands out is Haley Hudson, who plays Stevie, Annie's friend who just happens to be able to contact the dead. It is her character that scared me the most.

The movie also has some very good cinematography, especially when Annie walking throughout the house. Rather than constantly cut to new angle every time she turns a corner, the camera follows her with one continuous shot, immensely adding to the suspense.

The best part about the movie is that it doesn't assume that the audience is stupid. One of my least favorite things is when all questions are answered by the characters talking to themselves, or even to other characters. In "The Pact" the audience is given the information, and we are required to put it together ourselves. I have seen the movie twice now and certainly picked up on some small things that I missed in my first viewing.

The final plot surprise terrified me and I definitely won't forget it anytime soon. I didn't care for the very end (as in the closing shot), but it didn't ruin the whole movie for me.

Overall, "The Pact" is one of the scariest movies this year and a very well done horror movie. Not many low-budget horror movies are able to maintain the constant level of suspense that "The Pact" did. I highly recommend this to any horror fan. "The Pact" is currently available on Netflix Instant Streaming.

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Feisty daughter returns to her dead mother's house and experiences unexplained supernatural phenomena.

Quite effective mid-budget chiller, which, at least, is largely explained at the end (although the fate of the two missing persons is rather ambiguous).

Most scares are signposted (apart from two effective jump scares), which takes away the impact somewhat, but overall it is quite effective. Similar to 'Stir of Echoes' in plot.

My main criticism is that everyone seems to do everything alone. Whereas this is understandable for the loner heroine, a cop is unlikely to go into a house alone and knock a house about to get evidence (you would hope).

I suspect the writers were subconsciously influenced by 'Salem's Lot', as some of the characters' names are similar - ie. Glick/Barlow.

At one point the heroine gets a probate cheque for thousands of dollars. In the UK this process would take at least 18 months, but here seems to be completed with the stroke of a pen.

Overall, I'm being hypercritical, as it is well worth watching and is eminently watchable, if the plot devices are somewhat familiar in films of this type.

Worth checking out.

This movie has gotten a lot of terrible reviews here, so I feel the need to add another positive one. If you love horror movies and don't confuse "gory" with "scary" - and if everything doesn't have to be spelled out for you in an unrealistic expository scene - don't miss this gem.

Most horror movies either insult the audience a little by over-explaining, or they leave many elements simply unexplained (which can be a plus too.) This one actually gives you all the clues you need to put it together and get the answers. Really, it's all there - if you are observant, you don't need the characters to spell it out for you. I found the characters and dialog very believable (for a horror film, of course.) And a HUGE plus - no fake scares. Plenty of real ones. My boyfriend screamed out loud once, and I don't think I've ever heard him do that. I give it 8/10 because while I'm not likely to put it in my top ten films of all time, it was an immensely entertaining movie.

A woman's mother dies. She calls the rebellious younger sister to see if she will attend the funeral. She then chats with her daughter who lives with her cousin. During the chat the daughter asks her who's behind her. She sees no one but looks around the house. Then she vanishes.

During the funeral the little sister, Annie, does show up. The daughter and the cousin are there and spend the night at the house. Next morning the cousin has vanished.

Annie goes to the police. One night some force grabs her and yanks her throughout the house. Annie does some digging. There's a picture of her mom and a woman in a park. She also has visions of this woman.

When the cop visits her house they discover a secret room with holes in the walls to observe everyone else in the house. When the cop returns to the house by himself he's stabbed to death.

Annie meanwhile has a medium come over who experiences things. As she leaves she utters the name Judas. Annie discovers there was a serial killer in the area years ago who was known as Judas. He killed the woman she sees in the visions. Annie goes to the park and is led to a church/school where her mean mom worked. She finds out a man worked also there who has their same last name. He was a brother of the mother no one knew about. The medium tells her to do a Ouija session. It provides her with more answers and Annie will confront the evil in the house.

The Pact is a well-done lower budget horror thriller. Why it's called "The Pact" is entirely unclear. It's a slower movie but it's effective. Music and effects are very good and you do want to find out just what is going on. The story combines human evil with the supernatural in a convincing way. It could easily have chosen either of those but together they make things more interesting. Direction is excellent and the cast does a solid job as well. My main complaint is the casting of Caity Lotz as the main character. They already hired better choices in the lovely Kathleen Rose Perkins and Agnes Bruckner. The story is a bit short as we learn next to nothing of our main character or the family.