Movies
The Pact
“Just as I was preparing myself for a wild ride, ‘The Pact’ started pumping the brakes…[Nicholas] McCarthy simply can’t match the scares of that crackerjack first act.”
As I’ve written previously on this site, ghost stories stop being scary as soon as you turn the ghost into a protagonist with a problem. That’s why the first half of poltergeist movies are usually scarier than the second half. The Sixth Sense features some classic horror movie moments, but a pukey Mischa Barton ceases to be frightening as soon as Haley Joel Osment starts making deliveries for her. Nicholas McCarthy’s The Pact––based on his short film from last year’s Sundance fest––suffers from a similar problem. It’s a ghost story that starts out with a nerve-jangling bang, but once it starts to delve into its central mystery, it has a hard time sustaining the tension and suspense of its opening act. Which is too bad, because the first 30 minutes of The Pact are scary as hell.
McCarthy’s screenplay jumps right into it. After their mother’s death, two sisters agree to meet at their old childhood home to take care of her affairs. But when Annie (Caity Lotz) arrives at the house, her older sister Nicole has vanished. A few days later, Annie’s cousin Liz comes to visit, only to vanish in the house as well. Without divulging any details, the first act culminates with Annie being scared completely shitless and driven from the house.
You can credit the director for the movie’s more frightening moments. McCarthy is an avowed horror movie lover, something that’s readily apparent in his seemingly effortless ability to stage a good scare. As a longtime horror enthusiast, I pride myself in being able to see a movie scare coming from a mile away. But more than once, McCarthy managed to jolt the living shit out of me. And I love him for it.
Just as I was preparing myself for a wild ride, The Pact started pumping the brakes. Annie is questioned by a police detective (an appropriately grizzled Casper Van Dien), who tries to convince her to return to the house to help him investigate. Annie refuses, eventually turning to a meth-addled psychic (Haley Hudson) for help. The plot takes an intriguing turn when a possible link to a long-active serial killer is introduced. But McCarthy simply can’t match the scares of that crackerjack first act. The rest of the movie is effective, don’t get me wrong, and the always adorable Caity Lotz is a strong central character. But while the unfolding mystery remains engrossing, it apparent that The Pact has already shot its wad.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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