Pay the Ghost

The best part of this movie was that it was basing the intensity of the story in suspense. Most current movies of this genre seem to be based on over the top violence. Whereas this film it is kept to the bare minimum. This is definitely in the style of the good old fashioned ghost stories

I'm completely aware of all the hate Nicholas Cage gets (which I disagree with), however I actually consider him a good actor that commonly falls into the wrong hands. In this little horror film, Nicholas Cage actually gives an acceptable performance as the main role with good, sentimental angry outbursts of rage. It's nothing special, but I enjoyed this film because of it's imaginative, dark cinematography and quietly creepy atmosphere. It's got good jumpscares, surprisingly eye-capturing visual effects and an alright storyline to keep it going, and as long as you expect little from this film you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. I have to remark, this is actually one of Nicholas Cage's better films after all the crap he's acted in previously, and it's good that he's still acting in some films worthy of your time.

A lot of reviews are giving this movie flack but it's not that bad. I feel like people go into Cage movies now expecting the worse and have already decided how to feel about it before they've even watched it. I'm not about to argue that this film is good (because it definitely isn't) but you could do far worse than watch this movie. Sure, the CGI is terrible and the plot is no good. But we have okay dialogue in the script and everyone in the movie (minus the child actor) does a fine job. Cage isn't hamming it up like he often does and Sarah Wayne Callies does a great job. The scene after they lose their son is rather heartbreaking when you look at her. This movie does fall apart a bit down the stretch, however.

All in all, it's very forgettable, not recommended, but not terrible either.

Pay the Ghost is pretty much as mediocre or average as they come. It's not bad, it's not good. It's just there in the middle. Right in the middle.

(In Norway we have a saying that directly translates to "in the middle of the tree", that expression describes this movie perfectly. I don't know what word in English is most suitable though)

Pay the Ghost had one jump scare that definitely did the job for me. I jumped, and got that cold chill inside my chest. But that was also the only time the movie was remotely scary. Not that it is much horror anyway. It's way more thriller/drama than horror, really.

Nick Cage is usually entertaining to watch, and also here. Sara Tancredi (you know, Prison Break) does an alright job, her character is a little annoying, but that's the scripts fault. The kid, well, he's.. OK. he has a couple of lines that sound out of place, but hey.

The effects are mostly good, except a couple of small problems here and there. The story is just interesting enough for me to wanna watch it through. But like I said, the main keyword here is mediocre. Meh. Commonplace. Average. Call it what you will. There are a couple of problems with the script, doesn't seem like a whole lot of thought went into it, at least not into all of it. But that was as I expected, really.

The movie looks pretty good. I don't know the budget, but it doesn't have that low budget-feel to it. I like it when movies look, you know, at least a little expensive.

This is one of those horror movies you can watch in the evening on a Sunday or whatever, not the kind you build a movie night around, see what I mean? It's right there smack-dab in the middle.

Having enjoyed 'vintage Cage' in The Rock, Con Air, Face-Off, Captain Correli etc, frankly, I was hoping for a comeback, but, I didn't find it. Scripting at times is woefully simple, used to stitch the scenes, 'we need to discover xyz', 'how will we do that' and into the next scene! It feels predictable, it doesn't go deep, on the plus side, there were a couple of goose-bump scares, so I was submerged well enough at points and certainly the pace picks up during the final third. If there was a blackout power cut during the film, I wouldn't even consider to go back to finish it, it is not a good film, but, its not a bad one. Sunday evening B grade fodder.