I came across this title while watching the previews of a different film, and I thought it might be at the very least something to help pass the time. The last film that I saw that was actually able to make me jump to the edge of my seat with anticipation was Insidious, and since then it's been one disappointment after another.
I am very big cinema fan. I love originality in characters, plot, reactions and I don't put all my faith into films with a lot of special effects. The special effects cannot make a film, it is a contributing factor, which some filmmakers fail to remember, characters, plot and believability in what is taking place on screen, which includes the actors ability to make you believe that they are that person and not just someone looking to make a paycheck, are what I feel make a film great.
What I thought was going to be another haunted house, poltergeist, ghost movie turned out to be just that. A film about a person being haunted by the spirit of a murder victim, the fact that that person is related to the murderer is nothing new to cinema. There is even a little mystery as to what exactly the relationship is to the murderer, as well as the relationship between the two sisters, which I questioned because of the latter matter I mentioned. Yet the actresses and actors are what make this movie actually worth watching.
Caity Lotz is not a widely known actress, in fact I had never heard of her before watching this film, which is a very smart move, going with an unknown lead actress allows the film to shine, rather than the focus being on the name that's playing in the film. Indeed all of the actors and actresses are b actors at best. Casper van Dien hasn't done many big budget films, or I should say big scale films, since his supporting role in Sleepy Hollow, in which he was the hunky handsome rival with Johnny Depp's strange and science-driven character for Christina Ricci's character.
The characters are beautifully played because they are so believable. Agnes Bruckner plays a recovering addict that got clean for the sake of her daughter, who plays such a minimal part in the film that it was refreshing that it wasn't about a child communicating with the dead, a daughter from an emotionally and physically, perhaps even psychologically abusive relationship with her mother, a past she shared with her sister. We know that their mother dies, and Caity's character, hoping to maintain her estrangement to her past refuses to return to the site of her abuse, and pretend to be a grieving daughter to the mother that ruined her childhood, which is a very understandable reaction that many could relate to. Yet she returns when she hears no one can find her sister, whom she originally believes to have relapsed into her drug habit.
Once she arrives at the house, strange things begin to happen, after the police practically accuse her of being involved in the disappearance of her sister and her cousin as well as being crazy, she turns to a girl she went to school with that was rumored to have been able to communicate with the dead. Haley Hudson, is so unique in her performance as a medium, she is obviously not all there mentally, although with the appearance of her home life, as well as the menacing behavior of her brother, it is unclear whether this is caused by her gift, a mental affliction, or a possible use of drugs.
However, I was still left with many questions at the end of the movie. "The Pact" I find this title very confusing, because there is no explanation of a a pact being made, maybe the mom made the pact to protect her murdering brother? Maybe the sisters made a pact to always be there for the other, maybe Annie made a pact to herself to find out what happened to her sister, or to take care of her niece. Another question unanswered, how was the brother able to live under the house undetected for several years, even while the sisters were living there? Why weren't the sisters perceptible to the fact that there was obviously something missing from the house, like a hidden room. Was Judas aware that he had murdered his niece, did he murder his sister? Was it possible that there was an incestuous relationship between the mother and her brother that resulted in her pregnancy with the younger daughter, they all three had the same set of discolored eyes. What happened to the child that Jennifer Glick was carrying, was it possibly one of the sisters? Or was she killed while pregnant?
I was left with all these questions so that is why I gave it a 7/10. There were some plot holes, and what the? moments that I found rather foreseeable and predictable. Yet still a movie I do not recommend passing up, it still gives a few good jumps and scares.
I am very big cinema fan. I love originality in characters, plot, reactions and I don't put all my faith into films with a lot of special effects. The special effects cannot make a film, it is a contributing factor, which some filmmakers fail to remember, characters, plot and believability in what is taking place on screen, which includes the actors ability to make you believe that they are that person and not just someone looking to make a paycheck, are what I feel make a film great.
What I thought was going to be another haunted house, poltergeist, ghost movie turned out to be just that. A film about a person being haunted by the spirit of a murder victim, the fact that that person is related to the murderer is nothing new to cinema. There is even a little mystery as to what exactly the relationship is to the murderer, as well as the relationship between the two sisters, which I questioned because of the latter matter I mentioned. Yet the actresses and actors are what make this movie actually worth watching.
Caity Lotz is not a widely known actress, in fact I had never heard of her before watching this film, which is a very smart move, going with an unknown lead actress allows the film to shine, rather than the focus being on the name that's playing in the film. Indeed all of the actors and actresses are b actors at best. Casper van Dien hasn't done many big budget films, or I should say big scale films, since his supporting role in Sleepy Hollow, in which he was the hunky handsome rival with Johnny Depp's strange and science-driven character for Christina Ricci's character.
The characters are beautifully played because they are so believable. Agnes Bruckner plays a recovering addict that got clean for the sake of her daughter, who plays such a minimal part in the film that it was refreshing that it wasn't about a child communicating with the dead, a daughter from an emotionally and physically, perhaps even psychologically abusive relationship with her mother, a past she shared with her sister. We know that their mother dies, and Caity's character, hoping to maintain her estrangement to her past refuses to return to the site of her abuse, and pretend to be a grieving daughter to the mother that ruined her childhood, which is a very understandable reaction that many could relate to. Yet she returns when she hears no one can find her sister, whom she originally believes to have relapsed into her drug habit.
Once she arrives at the house, strange things begin to happen, after the police practically accuse her of being involved in the disappearance of her sister and her cousin as well as being crazy, she turns to a girl she went to school with that was rumored to have been able to communicate with the dead. Haley Hudson, is so unique in her performance as a medium, she is obviously not all there mentally, although with the appearance of her home life, as well as the menacing behavior of her brother, it is unclear whether this is caused by her gift, a mental affliction, or a possible use of drugs.
However, I was still left with many questions at the end of the movie. "The Pact" I find this title very confusing, because there is no explanation of a a pact being made, maybe the mom made the pact to protect her murdering brother? Maybe the sisters made a pact to always be there for the other, maybe Annie made a pact to herself to find out what happened to her sister, or to take care of her niece. Another question unanswered, how was the brother able to live under the house undetected for several years, even while the sisters were living there? Why weren't the sisters perceptible to the fact that there was obviously something missing from the house, like a hidden room. Was Judas aware that he had murdered his niece, did he murder his sister? Was it possible that there was an incestuous relationship between the mother and her brother that resulted in her pregnancy with the younger daughter, they all three had the same set of discolored eyes. What happened to the child that Jennifer Glick was carrying, was it possibly one of the sisters? Or was she killed while pregnant?
I was left with all these questions so that is why I gave it a 7/10. There were some plot holes, and what the? moments that I found rather foreseeable and predictable. Yet still a movie I do not recommend passing up, it still gives a few good jumps and scares.