Pledge

I have just watched "The Pledge" and was pleasantly surprised. It was very watchable, had a pretty good story and a good ending. The actors were great, they did a fine job. None of them were known to me and I was again, pleasantly surprised. I can recommend this one.

Good movie, not an especially good movie, but it is entertaining enough. Interesting theme, and the acting is fairly decent. I don't know if this is an independent movie, if it is, they done a fine job. If not, it's still a worth a look. Some gore, nothing too shocking for those who don't particularly like that stuff.

I'd say it's a solid 6, but those with a keener eye for the subtext, may have a different view to mine.

Pathetic excuse for a horror flick,find something better to do.

Three nerds crash a college party but they soon get kicked out for not being cool. However a hot chick invites them to an alternative party, held at an exclusive house. The vodka flows, the girls are randy, the boys have a great time. They get invited back the next day for a "fun" 48 hour pledge but when the first part involves the boys getting (forcibly) branded we know that they are in for a very tough time. Plenty of torture porn on offer here, not as graphic as say Hostel or Saw but still very violent and nasty. But amongst the horror we are treated to some humour in the dialogue, nerd David with his thick specs could have come from any number of 1980's college movies. There are a couple of decent twists towards the end. I found Pledge to be well made and enjoyed it, not sure that I'd give it a second shot though.

This movie has a distinct Funny Games feel to it, but takes a little less time developing the personality of the antagonists, which is a shame. There are touches, but most are peppered in to move the story forward, ratger than really setting them apart in terms of their goals and reasons for doing what they do.

There is a good punt of playing with audience expectations, so that the film keeps you guessing rather than simply being predictable, but it almost feels like it ends too quickly because of this. Several threads are left unexplored and a little more could have gone a long way to making this a much more rewarding watch.

Overall the film is good and never really lags or feels cheap. It has something to say and is delivered well. With a little more development it could have been really great.