The Pact 2 - Blu-ray

Movie: After Annie Barlow (Caity Lotz) kills the bloodthirsty Judas Killer Charles Barlow (Mark Steger), the danger seems to be averted. But then another murder case occurs that clearly bears the hallmarks of the Judas Killer. Grumpy FBI Agent Ballard (Patrick Fischler) is convinced it's a copycat killer. His investigation leads him to crime scene cleaner June Abbott (Camilla Luddington), who appears to be the daughter of Jenny Glick, the Judas Killer's first victim. When June learns this, she begins to understand the visions that have been haunting her for several days. She sets out to unravel the mystery surrounding her past, unaware that she is more closely connected to the gruesome murders than previously thought...

After his short film The Pact was enthusiastically received at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, director Nicholas McCarthy directed a feature version of the horror thriller just one year later. The mix of ghost story and mystery thriller didn't necessarily score with originality, but it did score with some very decent scary moments, especially in the first half of the film. The film's home theatrical release was then successful enough for a sequel to be greenlit. While McCarthy is no longer on board, several cast members from the first film are.

For The Pact 2, Dallas Richard Hallam and Patrick Horvath took over the direction and screenplay. They wove a sequel out of the story about Jenny Glick that was hinted at in the first film, and it sticks closely to McCarthy's first film in terms of style. While it is definitely apparent to their film that they had to work with a very low budget. But visually, the result is quite respectable. Especially the scenes where June is plagued by eerie visions and feels like Someone - or Something - is in her house are pleasantly effectively directed.

What the film lacks, however, is a decent script. While the story is set up quite convincingly in the first third, it gets more and more confusing later on until it culminates in an extremely unsatisfying resolution. The fact that this was then tacked on an unnecessary cliffhanger doesn't exactly make things better. Also the very clichéd characters and the sometimes flat dialogues don't really contribute to a positive overall impression. The actors, first and foremost a deliciously over-the-top mean Patrick Fischler and the attractive Camilla Luddington (Californication) can only save a little there, despite a very effortful play.

No question, The Pact 2has decent moments and is also absolutely passable as a B-movie. But it's a shame that the makers didn't get more out of the inherently good basic idea for the sequel in the end and gave away a lot of suspense potential through unnecessary lengths and a disappointing plot twist towards the end. For viewers who liked the first part, this continuation of the story is still not uninteresting, especially since you also learn what happened to Annie and Stevie. So if you don't expect more than solid mystery horror with some minor lengths, you can safely take a look!

Picture + Sound: The picture is quite dark in some scenes, but even then features decent overall sharpness. Even though the low budget is also reflected in the visuals, the atmospheric colour scheme and successful detailing leave an overall positive impression. The same can be said for the DTS-HD Master Audio mix, which has some effective surround moments to offer alongside the powerfully mixed voices. Good!

Extras: In addition to three very brief promo featurettes about the two leads (approx. 2:03 min.), the directors (approx. 2:10 min.) and the making of the sequel (approx. 2:08 min.), the disc also has a good making of (approx. 17:41 min.) to offer viewers a little more insight into the making of this low budget horror. Good!

Conclusion: The Pact 2 continues the story and style of its predecessor consistently. This brings some successful moments of suspense and also some successful goosebumps. However, as with Part 1, the sequel has to contend with quite a few lengths, which pull the tension level down again and again. Nevertheless, if you liked Part 1, you should definitely take a look at this one. The Blu-ray is technically well implemented and in the bonus material, the making of leaves a decent impression. Overall, this is enough for a more than solid: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp