“Back door guests are best.”
Andrea Graves (Dawn Soleri, Bloody Hooker Massacre) returns to her hometown to inherit her grandmother Bianca’s dilapidated oceanside house. The “Charnel House” as it is known, has a bad reputation with locals as a haunted residence. The place ironically resides at 101 Killington Street. With hopes of calling the place home, Andrea struggles to make sense of her grandmother’s mysterious past and the terrifying visions she experiences along the way. An old crush named Vic (Brett Edenton) helps her investigate the strange occurrences surrounding a mirror and the nightmare featuring a young woman trying to murder them.
The Pact deals with the unbreakable emotional bonds between lovers that can echo through time and space. Bianca’s relationship with her lover/friend Delphine culminated in a suicide pact that didn’t go as planned and now Andrea is thrust into the mix when she enters the house. I admire how the film slowly unveils the circumstances that led to Delphine haunting Andrea looking for her long-lost friend while giving Andrea her own set of moral quandaries with Vic. It’s all handled clumsily but the intent is certainly there.
Shot in Virginia Beach in 1995 the film was presumably shelved until a 2013 home video release that brought it back into the folds of time. A no-budget production from the start, The Pact appears to utilize a boarded-up construction site for the Charnel House which gives the whole production an exciting guerilla-style tone. Blood effects are goopy but mostly hidden in the dark recesses of the frame. These arterial spurts don’t look terrible but they get the job done without drawing too much attention.
Director Brad Sykes crafts a slow-burn thriller with confident camerawork allowing each scene to have some life and intention. Performances from the amateur cast are all as expected with the actors committing their best effort. Dawn Soleri navigates the story with equal parts authority and confusion. As expected with most gothic-inspired horror there are some tasteful nude scenes giving Andrea a welcome sense of vulnerability while navigating her relationships. Brett Edenton provides an unusual look to his character but isn’t sure what to do with Vic until he is faced with protecting Andrea’s life. However, I give the MVP to Jack Wareing (Lord of the Vampires) who plays the possessed weirdo Alvin who steals the show. His delivery of the line “She wants to have a word with you” is equal parts hilarious and revolting.
Channeling gothic supernatural flicks of the 70s and 80s, The Pact resembles a zero-budget 1990s Jean Rollin feature. Moody and atmospheric the film doesn’t rely on splatter gore effects or outrageous sexuality to channel its haunting message. The actors are taxed a bit in their character-driven scenes but the messages are eventually conveyed. Sykes seems to have a confident approach to the shots, especially action sequences. Lightning challenges and locations are seen but never affect the film’s momentum. Overall a predictable haunting feature with some surprises for such an amateur effort.
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
The Pact arrives on Bu-ray thanks to Saturn’s Core and Vinegar Syndrome. The Region Free disc is housed in a transparent keepcase with reversible artwork. If you order direct from Vinegar Syndrome you score an exclusive slipcover. Loading the disc presents the Saturn’s Core logo followed by the Nightfall pictures logo before landing on the Main Menu screen with scenes from the film playing adjacent to typical navigation options.
A disclaimer at the film’s start reads “This presentation of The Pact was created using the highest quality materials available. Any imperfections contained within this presentation are inherent to the source material.”
I watch many SOV features that provide a disclaimer regarding the film’s presentation and source material. As you can imagine there are audiences who don’t understand why a Blu-ray disc would present a film with such ratty and unrefined images. I applaud Saturn’s Core and other labels for hoping to snuff out the negative criticisms on SOV image quality in the age of HD and 4k.
The Pact was shot on VHS camcorders in the mid-90s resulting in a washed-out image full of analog noise. Colors are discernible but vary wildly between scenes. Detail is scarce though some exterior shots reveal limited facial features like the zombie makeup effects. Nighttime scenes or those within the Charnel House are difficult to read with most elements lost in darkness. Naturally, Sykes uses this to his advantage to build tension and atmosphere. My impression is that the murky and unstable lo-fi appearance of the film produces a pleasing supernatural aura when combined with the POV-style camerawork.
The Pact arrives on Blu-ray with a serviceable DTS-HD MA Stereo mix. The audio track presents the disjointed dialogue exchanges clearly with minimal hiss detected. The atmospheric music and gothic effects evoke a 70’s supernatural style which is carried through the mix confidently. Too often the music tracks overpower the dialogue making it difficult to understand what's going on between our confused characters.
Exchanges are recorded in-camera so medium and wide shots with audio are barely discernible. For example, when Vic is explaining the pact to Andrea the audio becomes clearer as the camera zooms into the two-shot. What I love most about this lo-fi supernatural feature is the mechanical whirring of the VHS camera equipment that can be heard constantly throughout the film. Lastly, for those familiar with Virginia Beach, you’ll understand the constant roar of aircraft heard throughout the feature.
While Saturn's Core didn't load this disc with features there is enough here for fans to sink their teeth into after the feature. Start with the short film then settle in with the commentary track from Sykes.
The Pact is a slow-burn SOV thriller that while messy and incoherent is full of gothic vibes worth experiencing. Devoid of ultra-gory violence, the film relies heavily upon the mystery element to build tension and offer the audience a journey. If you can look past the no-budget trappings and shaky performances you’ll see The Pact is a solid late SOV-era thriller. Saturn’s Core and Vinegar Syndrome brings the film to Blu-ray with a respectable A/V that reflects the quality of the source tape confidently. Fans of SOV films will find this languid thriller a fun watch but others may lose their patience. For Fans Only.
