The Pact

One way of sorting movies is by how much time and money you are willing to pay to view them.  Once upon a time, a good movie was one you paid full price for and a not so good movie was one you went to see only at the matinee price or maybe as the B movie in a double bill.  Right now a good movie is the one I wait for Netflix to send me by mail and the B movie is the one I will only watch if I can get it instantly on your PS3. 

The Pact (2012) falls in the latter category, but I think it falls rather near the top.  A young woman Annie (Caity Lotz) hops on her motorcycle and rides home to join her sister.  Their mother has died.  Mom was never in any danger of being awarded mother of the year.  Her sister, Nichole (Agnes Bruckner) has a history of drug abuse.  When Annie arrives, Nichole has disappeared, leaving behind her young daughter.  McCarthy wastes no time in cueing up the ghostly effects, but of course the really sinister truths are reserved for later. 

The film was written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy.  His plot involves two basic elements of the genre: the ghost story and the serial killer story.  There is nothing particularly inventive about either.  He gives us plenty of details toward the end, but the film mostly communicates through visual exposition.  It is the mood in each setting that is the key. 

One of the weaknesses in the film is a common one.  Too little is told in the first half, so too much has to be revealed in the second.  A lot of characters play important roles for a bit and then become inconvenient and have to be disposed of or in one case just forgotten about. 

Despite these weaknesses, the film is well worth an instant watch for two reasons.  The primary one is Caity Lotz.  Her depiction of Annie is simply exquisite.  Hollywood heroines depend heavily on heavy makeup to be beautiful.  Here, it is the no-makeup look that stirs the heart.  Annie is real.  Damaged, resentful, leading a marginal life, she expresses her feelings about her mother best by the relief that she feels when she can smoke in mom’s house. 

Her encounter with Bill Creek (Casper Van Dien) is a set piece, but it is finely acted and directed.  Creek is what, a police psychologist?  I didn’t quite figure this out.  He has to talk her down after the initial crisis, when the police suspect that she may have murdered her sister.  It’s one of those, how do I get the client to trust me scenes.  I can’t get it out of my head.  Van Dien has a sort of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn look to him.  He uses it well. 

The second thing that makes the film worth watching for horror fans is the mood that presents at each setting.  Here, I think, McCarthy shows his mettle.  Every scene drew me in by the sound and visual texture.  He is someone worth keeping an eye on. 

If you are looking hard for something satisfying on Netflix Instant, this one is well worth taking a look at.