Pay the Ghost

One year after Mike Lawford's young son disappeared during a Halloween carnival, he begins to experience strange, unsettling visions, and terrifying messages he can't explain. Together with his estranged wife, he will stop at nothing to unravel the mystery and find their son, but in doing so, he unearths a legend that refuses to remain buried in the past........ You know that an actor is in trouble when every DVD cover featuring them graces the words 'Academy Award Winner' before their name, and their face is obviously airbrushed on to a separate body, because they didn't have the time to pose. What is particularly funny about this cover is that it's the exact same pose Cage had for last years 'Classic' left behind. Oh, and they always look a lot skinnier than they actually are. Who can remember the days where Seagal had those hilarious photo-shopped pictures. I just used to buy the DVD for the cover. So Cage decides to go down the horror route, and whilst the idea is sound, a kind of Jacobs Ladder meets a very dodgy version of Don't Look Now, the makers of the film just do not know how to generate a scare, or even an air of tension. So we begin with the boy having visions of a vulture circling him, and then disappearing whilst Cage is buying him Ice-cream in a comedy cowboy outfit. And then it's almost a year later, where Cage has turned into the desperate father looking for answers. This is where the film falls apart, because they don't use the full potential of Cage and his wonderful maniacal acting arc. Nope, they have him spend the rest of the film looking concerned and perplexed while he meets a whole bunch of weirdos who talk to him in riddles and send home on wild goose chases. He begins to see his son here, there, and everywhere, and as we all know in films like this, once he gets to where his son should be its someone who looks just slightly different. It's your typical cookie cutter, almost family friendly horror, which features a strange scene involving school kids in masks and a teacher, who is claiming that she knows nothing, and then proceeds to explain the whole myth of the title (there is a reason why his son went missing, and it's a little bland). So all in all, it's another bland effort from Cage, but to be fair on him, he just isn't given anything to get his teeth into, other than playing concerned dad running around the streets. But there was a reassurance toward the end. Remember that Kevin Costner horror released a few years back called The New Daughter (didn't think so). Well that vanished without a trace, but soon after, he was given a new lease of life with supporting roles, and now he's back with bigger, cinematic releases. Here's hoping this is the beginning of the end of Nics slump. In Cage we trust.......

I'll go against the grain here. I think this is a fairly good horror/suspense film. Certainly better than many of the slasher type horror films that seem to come out every few months. There is a problem -- Nicholas Cage. Not that there was anything wrong with his acting (not that it's his best outing, either). But, he's (gasp) too old for the part. In his mid-50s with a kid who's about 7. And he looks so much older and flabby in the face, too. I know what you may be thinking -- why am I being so mean. I'm not. He's just too old for the part and it shows. But beyond that, the movie held my attention. And, I disagree with a number of other posters in that this is not "the" standard plot. Sure, there are things you kinda guess and expect along the way, but it's been a long time since I saw a unique horror film. And there are things -- particularly the ending -- that are quite different from much that I've seen before. Yes, I know it was direct to DVD, which is not a good sign. But give it a chance.

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

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.

Nicolas Cage does so many movies that it's the greatest shame is when he does a movie like this. And it's not that it's an entirely *awful* project to work on - it's a horror movie that doesn't rely on the requisite jump scares that so many mainstream movies that get released in theaters tend to have and has an inkling of a decent premise about a kid who gets taken on Halloween night and a year later it's discovered that it's part of a string of kids who are taken on the night - and yet it's also that it's not very good either. It doesn't give the opportunity for Cage to do something legitimately good (which he IS still capable of, see Green's JOE from 2014 for proof of that) nor is it a place for him to go full bat-s***-cage like Port of Call New Orleans. It's a watchable lump. It's from director Uli Edel so if you've seen Body of Evidence (where Madonna has sex with people to death and there's a court case about it), and the Baader Meinhoff Complex (which is actually a pretty good accounting of the terrorist group in the 70's), so he isn't exactly a hack... sort of. He's out to basically tell the story that he's been given. The trouble is there isn't a whole of story to give out, except that there are some requisite clichés, such as when the married couple of Cage and Sarah Wayne Callies call upon someone who can talk to 'spirits' or whatnot (Poltergeist and Insidious called...), or the simple fact that Cage is playing a literature professor who on cue is teaching Goethe to his students who give him rapturous applause at the end of his first lecture (and then later when he's all sad that his son is gone and teaching Irving there's just a collective shrug, it's almost like there is no class there). It's full of clichéd elements. I think it's simply a combination of Pay the Ghost being full of stuff from other movies like the cult in robes (I liked it better in Wicker Man, a Nic Cage bat-s*** movie I'd rather be watching) or that it's execution is just lazy (the CGI vultures that hover over buildings from time to time, but then when it has to be story-driven there's some shadowy figure in a window). The simpler fact is that it's not very scary, and the director seems to be trying to make it scarier through bursts of music and dark lighting that is unconvincing. And yet through all of this, a little of Cage kind of sort of trying is there... in parts. And the actress playing his wife from Walking Dead is okay (though she often has a look in her eyes of panic, which may be for the character but may be uh 'Hey, can someone get me out of here?'). But the general feeling by the end of this is 'ho-hum', and one can only hope Cage is done paying off his tax debts so he can do more things like Joe again.

I strongly suspect that, around 2009-2010 or so, Nicolas Cage participated in a secret scientific experiment to have himself cloned, and that since then there are at least three of four Nicks walking around in Hollywood! How else would you explain the large number of Nick Cage vehicles that is getting released each year? I seems that, every time I blink my eyes, two or three titles are added to Cage's filmography here on IMDb. I don't mind, though, and it's even quite clever because I (and surely many others with me) will pretty much watch everything that Nicolas Cage stars in, regardless of the quality. And, granted, a lot of the B-type action/horror movies that he starred in lately are bad. Take "Pay the Ghost", for instance. I probably never would have bothered to continue watching if it weren't for Cage's name prominently decorating the opening credits, as it looks like just another derivative and predictable ghost story with a weak plot and an overload of fake scares. Make no mistake, "Pay the Ghost" IS a forgettable and weak supernatural horror entry, but hey, maybe I was in an exceptionally good mood because I nevertheless enjoyed it. The script is obviously trying to cash in on "Insidious", "Sinister" and every other recently released thrillers featuring ghost children, and Cage strictly acts on automatic pilot, but I was still interested in the plot of his missing son. Charlie mysteriously vanished during last year's Halloween parade and, nearly one year later, his father discovers that several children go missing every year on All Hallows Eve without ever getting found. Mike reunites with his estranged wife and together they stumble upon a harrowing tragedy that occurred nearly three centuries ago. Being a sucker for folklore/urban legend stories involving witchery and burning at the stake, I really dug the tale of Annie Sawquin, and director Uli Edel ("Christiane F.") did his best to insert a creepy atmosphere, decent special effects and eerie scenery. Certain scenes are quite brutal, like the fade of the spiritual medium, and the happy ending doesn't feel too forced. But, like I said, I was in a good mood and Cage himself probably already doesn't remember "Pay the Ghost" anymore.

"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.

There was a time when Nicolas Cage could pull off investigation movie with stylishly dark atmosphere like he did in 8mm. Sadly, Pay the Ghost is far from such acclaim. While Nicolas Cage has a few awkward scenes, it's not entirely on him since the movie is severely lacking focus. At times it's unclear if it tries to go for crime drama or merely imitation of TV series Supernatural. The loss of child ruins the already gloomy life of Mike (Nicolas Cage). With his deteriorating career and relationship with his wife Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies), he tries to find the truth about the disappearance. There's a glimpse of exhilaration here and there, but in the end it's as vanilla as it gets in term of horror. Nicolas Cage plays as the father figure, a role he has much experience on. However, as one might expect, he still occasionally delivers exaggerated acting, especially when the moments shift into more dramatic tone. It's not as bad as his more ridiculous scenes, which probably not saying much. Saray Wayne Callies fares better. She's might not win the best mother award in The Walking Dead series, but she's convincing as the saddened mother here. The movie also opts for more direct cinematography, using New York in Halloween festivity as the background. The more grounded setting might work for investigation aspect, unfortunately it soon falters with inconsistent production. Its horror is definitely meager, flimsily switching between uninspiring cheap scares and equally cheap CGI. Pretty much any attempt in this department ends up in overused gimmick. In fact, some of the supposed scary sequences end up in ridiculous paranormal display. The other part involves gumshoe work, and it's eerily similar to Cage's usual cop drama. Perhaps he was cast to bring this intended effect, although even the detective angle feels weak. Pay the Ghost is not utterly bad, it's just cobbled together with flawed elements that results in a horror thriller that is neither frightening nor engaging.

After about five minutes into the movie I thought, "Oh no, not another child that sees ghosts." Then, as though the writers heard my plea, the movie changed directions. Now, to be fair, it didn't go into unchartered territory. In fact, the movie revisited a well established premise. Professor Mike Lawford (Nicholas Cage) loses his child at a Halloween fair right under his nose. This leads to a split between he and his wife, Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies), as she blames him for their son's abduction. Shortly before Charlie's (Jack Fulton) abduction he had strange visions and even heard something tell him to "Pay the Ghost". All of that plays a major role in Mike's subsequent search for his son as it takes him to stranger and stranger locations. I would call the movie eerie and ominous even but not quite scary. There is a particular frustration when a terrible thing happens to you in a desolate location because no one is around to help you. There is another, more intensified frustration when a terrible thing happens to you in New York City and there are literally thousands of people around you. That's precisely what Mike was dealing with. "Pay the Ghost" was entertaining and it held my interest but nothing groundbreaking.

A lot of reviews are giving this movie flack but it's not that bad. I feel like people go into Cage movies now expecting the worse and have already decided how to feel about it before they've even watched it. I'm not about to argue that this film is good (because it definitely isn't) but you could do far worse than watch this movie. Sure, the CGI is terrible and the plot is no good. But we have okay dialogue in the script and everyone in the movie (minus the child actor) does a fine job. Cage isn't hamming it up like he often does and Sarah Wayne Callies does a great job. The scene after they lose their son is rather heartbreaking when you look at her. This movie does fall apart a bit down the stretch, however. All in all, it's very forgettable, not recommended, but not terrible either.