I was arguing with a friend the other day, about the meaning of horror. He said that if a film contains something popping out and going “Boo” or has a monster then it must be a horror film. To me, a horror creates more feelings of uneasiness, makes you uncomfortable and feel fear. If it’s not doing that then, it’s not really a proper horror film. The term gets overused with the rubbish forewith that my friend watches, and it’s hard to find a good horror film; which The Pact is, despite its many misgivings.
The Pact sees two sisters dealing with the loss of their abusive mother in the house they grew up in. When one suspiciously goes missing, the free spirited younger sister Annie (Caity Lotz, MTV’s Death Valley) starts to investigate the house and it’s history. Being guided to a mysterious blocked off room in her own house, Annie and a few extra investigators stumble upon a near 30 year ghastly conspiracy. But all is not as it seems…
The acting… well it’s not quite serviceable put it like that. All I can positively say is that they move the plot on from A to B to spooky door. Haley Hudson (Look) was good as Stevie the psychic; her natural complexion and skinny, bony, frame underneath tonnes of makeup make her a disgustingly deathly person to look at; her walking around in touch with the other side almost floating through the house was genuinely unnerving (a great piece of casting), which is more than can be said for everyone else in this movie. Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) is the biggest name attached and he’s rubbish. As the experienced cop intrigued by the spooky goings on, he falls flat and you never feel confident with him as an audience member when he’s escorting Annie round the haunted house.
There are decent amounts of what I consider to be horror; watching the unspeakable horror reveal itself through a person’s eye view through a hole in a curtain is top notch, and very unnerving. Another stand-out moment was when someone opened a door in darkness and looked in, the timing was just right for the moment to linger before cutting away to the titles, providing uncomfortable, squeamish, feelings. This approach is best, since it doesn’t betray the audience by doing something like smashing a window in another room or something obvious like an arm popping out and dragging whoever through the door. Some may argue it’s trying too hard to be unpredictable by doing neither but when, you get GOOD moments of horror, it pays off.
The direction from first timer Nicholas McCarthy is a mix; there are some brilliant creepy shots, like looking down the long darkening corridor at a suspicious door (even if he does it a good 20 times, no joking) and framing a dark closet in the corner of your eye so you’re always on edge for something to happen. Basic but effective framing techniques is what he excels at. He also deserves credit for the way the plot of the film at least keeps changing enough to keep you on your toes, and the changes, as well as what you suspect will happen, don’t always come off as you expect. However, whilst I haven’t seen the original Pact short, it could be a bit of a risk to call it a good idea stretched too far, but considering some of the useless shots and clear padding, that seems to be a fairly safe assessment.
Not that I’m dripping with ideas for a re-title but the name of the film, The Pact, gives a bit too much away; obviously the name suggests some sort of deal made, possibly morally wrong, between two or more people and/or things. It ran a very dangerous risk of being evident, though thankfully what happens in the film kind of saves it from being totally spoilerific and obvious.
The music was terrible too. Generic, screechy, “this is horror music so you must be scared!”, fare, but even that’s not it’s worst crime; what’s worse is how out of place it is; there were places where you didn’t need music, as the shock of what just appeared in front of you would have been enough before the camera cut away, but instead the rubbish music came on and ruined the shock factor, which is a true crime in a horror film.
There are so many plot holes a door opening to a black hole couldn’t fill it. Why specifically do the spooky events start after the mother dies? Surely whatever was there in the first place was always hanging round in some shape or form. Does the mother really factor THAT much into the turn at the end of the film, when it could have been slotted in by a friend? The ending is stupid – are you implying there were TWO unspeakable horrors? Because that’s incredibly dumb and impossible.
There are some decent ideas and moments of great horror in this film, but sadly they get washed away by crap acting, amateur directing, and awful, awful, music and sound editing. A lot of potential wasted in the wrong hands, The Pact should have been a lot better, and is a real missed opportunity.
Read on below for a more spoiler filled account of The Pact…
I’ve had to do away with spoiling the majority of the film until now. If you didn’t guess from the name of the film, The Pact implies a strong bond or union over an unspeakable event or deed. It turns out that the sister’s mother was keeping her serial killer brother (dubbed “Judas”) underneath the house and he would venture into the secret room and house through a series of trap doors. He would also spy on people around the house using a variety of peep holes in rooms and corridors.
I actually quite like the mechanics behind it; the brother rummaging about when everyone else is asleep, perhaps nipping out to commit a bit of murder before slumping home and having a cry; and I almost want to know more about the brother; like his eating habits, what would he do during the day when there were people around? and did he hang out with his sister when it was just her living with him? There’s enough unanswered questions to make a prequel just about his living routine, even if it’s formed from bottomless pits of lost logic and missing plot holes!
There is a strong balance between the practical (Judas killer in the secret room and it’s trap doors and peeping holes) and the supernatural (people lifted up and thrown about) which, despite what some would say is a bait and switch, works surprisingly well, and more than fulfils its potential and expectations. The ghost story element of Judas’ last victim coming back to help Annie solve the mystery and bring him to justice is done well enough and isn’t out of place compared to the rest of the film and it’s other revelations.
It’s a shame the above spoilers are the real highlight of the film and I sadly couldn’t have talked about it until now. It’s disappointing knowing director and writer Nicholas McCarthy has these GREAT ideas up his sleeve and still ruins his own film with everything else. Perhaps if it was in the hands of somebody else, The Pact could have turned out to be a truly great horror film.
