Pay the Ghost

The best part of this movie was that it was basing the intensity of the story in suspense. Most current movies of this genre seem to be based on over the top violence. Whereas this film it is kept to the bare minimum. This is definitely in the style of the good old fashioned ghost stories

With its low rating on IMDb and some poor reviews I read, I wasn't expecting much from this ghost/horror flick. However, I found it to be better than I anticipated. It's presented well, and although it probably won't please the die-hard horror fans, it had just enough chills and surprises for me.

Nicolas Cage stars as Professor Mike Lawford, who takes his 7-year-old son Charlie (Jack Fulton), on Halloween night, to a local carnival in New York City. However, while buying some ice cream, Charlie goes missing, and Mike frantically tries to find him to no avail.

Fast forward one year, and Mike has found his marriage, his career, and his own psyche in a tailspin, with no definitive word on Charlie. Mike, though, gets the sense that his son is trying somehow to communicate with him, while his wife Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies) begins to get the same type of messages from the spirit realm.

With help from a fellow professor (Veronica Ferres) and an Irish celebrant at a traditional Celtic Halloween service, Mike and Kristen begin to finally realize what might have happened to Charlie and what they can do about it.

All in all, this movie directed by Uli Edel and written by Dan Kay, based on a novella by Tim Lebbon, is not going to win any awards for plot originality, as this theme has been used numerous times in other movies. However, it kept me engaged and offered up just enough chills for me to like it.

I'm completely aware of all the hate Nicholas Cage gets (which I disagree with), however I actually consider him a good actor that commonly falls into the wrong hands. In this little horror film, Nicholas Cage actually gives an acceptable performance as the main role with good, sentimental angry outbursts of rage. It's nothing special, but I enjoyed this film because of it's imaginative, dark cinematography and quietly creepy atmosphere. It's got good jumpscares, surprisingly eye-capturing visual effects and an alright storyline to keep it going, and as long as you expect little from this film you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. I have to remark, this is actually one of Nicholas Cage's better films after all the crap he's acted in previously, and it's good that he's still acting in some films worthy of your time.

Is Pay The Ghost a Cage classic like 8mm or Face/Off? Nowhere near it. Is it as bad as some people are making it out to be? No, and at least it's better than guff like Gone In 60 Seconds or Bringing Out The Dead. I mean what's better? A film that at least tries to put together some sort of a story (even if it is a bit lacking) or films that have none or are just earlier versions of Fast & The Furious? I know what I'd rather go with.

Pay The Ghost isn't that fantastic, and I'm not suggesting that it is, but for all the complaints it has received, it's altogether not THAT bad. I mean granted the story has been done a thousand times before and it's loaded with clichés (hard to find movies that don't have clichés to be honest), but this film never sets out to be a fantastic Oscar winning epic. It's a middle-of-the-road Horror film, and you get pretty much exactly what you pay for here. Nothing about the story kept me on the edge of my seat, but nothing about it wanted me to slit my wrists for something better to do either. There were a few decent moments scattered throughout, but it wasn't really all that scary.

Some people moan about him but for the most part I enjoy watching Nicolas Cage. Is he over-the-top in some films? Yes, but generally he's a pretty solid actor. You tend to kind of know what you'll get with Cage. His performance in Pay The Ghost isn't anything to write home about but I think with this type of film & story if he put any more into it, then it would have been too much. I don't generally mind Sarah Wayne Callies', but the characters she plays do tend to rub me the wrong way. Her character in The Walking Dead was like that and her character here did the same.

I'd say to give this film a shot if you like Nicolas Cage films or if there's nothing else better for you to watch, but other than that it's a bit of a watch it and forget it type of movie.

"What if all these children, missing on Halloween, in New York City are connected. What if there's something behind it?" What starts off as a fun trip with his kid to a Halloween carnival becomes a nightmare when the child goes missing. Now Mike (Cage) will stop at nothing to find him. When the one year anniversary comes and still no sign of his son he starts to experience strange things. He hopes these clues will help him, but the more he looks the more eerie things become. There seems to be some actors that seem to be in everything you see. Nicolas Cage is one of those actors. There is a new movie with him coming out constantly, and for people like me who don't like him it seems that it happens more than it should. His last movie, The Runner, wasn't bad and I did like it. Much like that movie this is actually a pretty interesting movie that was fun to watch and did have a little Poltergeist feel to it. As far as Cage goes, much like in The Runner he didn't do anything to distract from the movie and it was good in spite of him. Overall, one of the better horror as well as Cage movies in a while. I surprisingly liked this. I give it a B.