Welcome one and all to part 26 of The 52 In 52. The concept is simple I have a decent sized collection of DVDs and Blu Ray that have been stuffed on the shelf to gather dust. Each week this year I will watch a film I've never seen before and review it. If you are new to the blog head over to the half way point blog HERE and catch up on the first 25 weeks of reviews.
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This week I am reviewing the 2012 horror film, The Pact. This film was written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy and is his debut feature film. The film stars Caity Lotz (DCs Legends Of Tomorrow) as Annie Barlow who is returning home to attend her mothers funeral when her sister and friend disappear whilst staying in her mothers house. As the mystery unfolds there is more than meets the eye to not only the disappearances but to her entire childhood too.
Firstly I want to say that I really enjoyed The Pact but, it was not without it's flaws. Caity Lotz is fantastic throughout. There is a real toughness and defensiveness to her character at the beginning of the film and gradually as the story unfolds she shows a real vulnerability without going into damsel territory. Casper Van Dien is good as he grizzled Bill Creek however I would have liked to have seen more from him rather than becoming collateral damage. The scene in which Annie brings in her psychic friend Stevie is genuinely unsettling and alarming as she seems a little unstable. I would have loved to have seen more from that character too.
I loved the use of a muted colour pallet. The film felt really dark and almost claustrophobic at times and that was largely thanks to the dark and almost brown and grey tone to the used. This was great in correlation with small house that is used throughout the film really making the audience feel like there is no place to hide. I loved the house of practical effects that are executed well such as the scene with the Ouija board that could have been handled differently and looked bad if the director had chosen to use CG effects.
The score is a great mix of classical music and pulsating sounds that plays well to the claustrophobic feeling the film gives. It is a nice change to hear actual music rather than atmospheric sounds and little to no music.
The issues I have are that The Pact tries to replicate a lot of the tropes that horror films, especially modern horror follow. In order to get a cheap scare there is a lot of quite/loud crashes that don't really work too well and look tame in comparison to the likes of Insidious and The Conjuring. It's a shame that McCarthy felt like he had to wedge these types of scares in as the story and acting are more than enough to get effective scares without cheap tricks.
Overall The Pact is a pretty decent horror film that has unfortunately fallen under the radar slightly. The strength of acting and creepy story shine through the laboured cheap scares. The story will stick with you as it is genuinely scary.
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