‘The Pact’ Is Thrilling and Unpredictable Supernatural Horror [The Overlooked Motel]
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Today on the Overlooked Motel, we’re talking about Nicholas McCarthy’s scrappy indie horror picture The Pact. The flick bowed in 2012 via IFC Midnight and garnered some buzz upon release. However, in the years since, this chilling supernatural horror thriller has gotten lost in the shuffle. That’s unfortunate because The Pact is an intense affair filled with unforeseen twists and unforgettable jump scares that impressively showcase McCarthy’s prowess at tension-building.
The setup for this eerie indie horror thriller goes like this:
The Pact follows Annie (Caity Lotz) as she returns to her childhood home following her mother’s recent death. Her sister, Nichole (Agnes Bruckner), was previously there tending to their late matriarch’s affairs, but she vanished without a trace just before Annie’s arrival. As Annie works to process her mother’s death and her sister’s inexplicable disappearance, she begins to suspect something isn’t right in her former home. She comes to realize that there’s a malevolent presence attached to the dwelling and subsequently sets out to get to the bottom of the spooky ordeal.
McCarthy makes very effective use of a limited budget here. He made the picture for an estimated total of less than half a million, and there isn’t a single aspect of the movie that I think a larger budget would have greatly improved upon. In fact, some of the tells actually make the film better. For instance, the color grading lacks the sheen of a studio picture. However, that works to the film’s advantage. The absence of gloss adds to the gritty look and feel McCarthy has worked to establish.
The picture’s aesthetic is painstakingly rendered and endlessly effective.
McCarthy uses a number of techniques to achieve that foreboding look. The set design is pitch-perfect as Annie and Nichole’s mother’s house has a decidedly uninviting quality that perfectly fits the film’s thematic elements. The dwelling appears lived-in but not in a homey or inviting way as you might expect. The domicile lacks the personal mementos and character that make a house a home, so to speak.
McCarthy further puts the viewer ill at ease with a filter that colors everything in sickly sepia tones. The Pact doesn’t necessarily look inviting, but it isn’t meant to be. The visuals add an extra level of discomfort to the viewing experience.
That sickly aesthetic isn’t exclusive to the interior shots, either. During the occasional exterior scenes, we see overcast, dreary skies and foreboding scenery. The film is set in sunny California, but McCarthy makes the Golden State look far less appealing than it’s typically portrayed in film and on television.
The eerie aesthetic McCarthy creates helps augment the scares within. Speaking of, The Pact contains one particularly effective jump scare that I can’t stop thinking about. Without giving too much away, I will say that the scene transpires in the first act and makes effective use of video chat. Though the sequence in question doesn’t actually show the antagonist, it brilliantly establishes the presence of something untoward and shows the audience the chilling aftermath. Even on return visits, this sequence gives me chills.
The film’s score augments the already palpable tension in some of the picture’s most harrowing scenes. The musical accompaniment is simplistic and haunting. A lot of the stings consist of a single note that reverberates ominously, further enhancing the sense of unease that begins building at the onset.
The scares within present early and often.
A lot of the scares come as unexpectedly as a punch to the gut. McCarthy frames his lead characters in closely cropped shots that hint at something lurking in the shadows. Spoiler alert: There is something lurking in the shadows.
The Pact is full of chilling twists and shocking surprises. McCarthy’s screenplay eschews the obvious in favor of trying to outsmart the audience and keep them on their toes. He is remarkably successful in that valiant attempt. Just as it seems like the narrative is going in one direction, the writer/director pulls the rug out from underneath us and does something unexpected.
The surprise conclusion is one of my favorites in recent memory. I was expecting McCarthy to go in one direction, but he smartly pivots and does something completely unforeseen. In addition to working as a sly subversion of expectations, the big reveal also casts everything that came before it in a different light. All of a sudden, everything comes into focus and takes on an even creepier connotation.
It’s not just the scares or the twists that work well. The Pact also delivers a compelling lead character who gives the viewer good reason to stay tuned. Annie is a textured protagonist whom I find endlessly relatable. Her perspective is informed by past trauma and a complex family dynamic. Despite that, she’s resilient and far stronger than she gives herself credit for being. Anyone who has lost a loved one with whom they had a complicated relationship is likely to relate to her attempts to reconcile her mother’s passing.
The Pact was successful enough for IFC to order a sequel. Sadly, it pales in comparison to the original. It’s not a bad movie, per se. However, The Pact 2 is completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the equation.
All in all:
The Pact is an atmospheric and effective horror thriller that does a lot with a small budget. For my money, it features some of the most effective jump scares of the 2010s. If you’re down to give the film a shot, you can find it streaming on Shudder as of the publication of this post. The sequel is also on Shudder. If you opt to take in the follow-up, keep your expectations in check.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you would like to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter, Threads, or Instagram.
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