THE PACT (2012) movie review

The Pact (2012) d. McCarthy, Nicholas (USA) 

Newcomer Caity Lotz stars in this good ghost story well told, with bigger names Casper Van Dien and Agnes Bruckner taking smaller roles (and presumably smaller paychecks – one has to wonder what Van Dien saw in what is ultimately a throwaway part). Atmospheric and effective, with minimal, well-executed special effects, a bit of bloodletting and some fine chilling visuals without relying (too) heavily on aural jump scares.

Fantasia Day 8 (Thursday, July 26)

With the exception of my interview with Citadel writer/director Ciarán Foy this afternoon (followed by a surprise encounter with none other than Johnny Rico himself, Casper Van Dien in the hotel lobby), it was a pretty low-key day. Saw a couple non-horror features (though I had hoped that the second, The King of Pigs would live up to its Fantasia catalog write-up as “borrowing touches from genre cinema, notably suspense and horror films.” Yes, there was a bit of animated blood spilling from its animated characters, but I guess I was lobbying for more fear factor than they were dishing out.

(For the record, the Foy interview went smashingly well, and I’m looking forward to championing this man and his work. And for the other record, yes, Casper Van Dien is just as ruggedly handsome in person as he is on screen. Whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty man… I thought about asking him to take a photo, but he was sitting there on his laptop with all his luggage heading for the airport and I would have had to enlist someone else to take the shot, so it all seemed like a bit more trouble than necessary.)

Fantasia Day 7 (Wednesday, July 25)

As of yesterday, it’s been a full week of Fantasinsanity, and MAN what a ride it’s been. However, I’d yet to be leveled by any amazing horror features (that I wasn’t already aware of, hello Manborg and Juan of the Dead). Happily, I recently encountered a trio of fright flicks that with any luck with be arriving on everyone’s radar in the not-too-distant future.

With The Pact showing up as “sold out” on the Fantasia website yesterday morning, I opted to head over to the press room to view a digital copy rather than run the risk of not getting into the screening itself. While this meant missing out on the by-all-reports enjoyable Q&A with Casper Van Dien, his presence within the film is so incidental that it felt a bit like a (presumably small) “paycheck gig” for him, although the fact that he was willing to travel to Montreal in support of it (and his exec-produced Starship Troopers: Invasion) says something, I suppose.