Pay the Ghost

When out of nowhere and without much advertising we get a supernatural thriller (though in this case it’s rather a mystery horror movie, regardless of what the current tag says) with Nicolas Cage, you can expect a disaster and will not pay much attention to it. But then you notice the name of Uli Edel, who, among others, has directed an episode of Twin Peaks and the Oscar nominated The Baader Meinhof Complex. Well… Pay the Ghost is a competently shot trip back to the 1990s. Really, it reminded me of those supernatural and unambitious thrillers of that era, where a well-known actor chases ancient demons and curses in the streets of an American big city. It even has a mysterious digital condor and an unconvincing digital ending. To be honest, for most of the film I was of the idea of giving it four stars, some of the scenes are truly scary and chilling, to the point that I got goosebumps several times. Unfortunately, they are followed by rather blander ones that are good mostly as a guilty pleasure. So I’ll leave it at three stars, especially because of the ending, but I must admit that the film is far from boring. Actually, I’m surprised that someone is still making something so nineties, and quite solidly at that. (20/09/2015)

`Nicolas Cage` is the name that speaks for itself nowadays but it is a set of mind as well. He seems to be frozen in time, still doing his own mystical thing that if not overly extravagant can be quite enjoyable. Pay the Ghost is just like that. I wouldn’t even say I watched a B-rated movie. I quite liked it. At first it comes across as psychological drama that turns into horror and finally some Celtic mythology gets mixed into the premise so you get a feeling that you’re watching some kind of independent continuation of National Treasure. I like that type of movies, it reminds me of ‘90s including the movie’s ending and I don’t have any reason not to return to those movies. So Nicolas, you got me with this one. A good old-school mysterious thriller. (17/08/2020)

At certain moments, I seriously considered giving it four stars. I haven't had urban legend on my horror menu for a long time, so I was pleasantly surprised by the partly fantasy and partly horror story that Edel managed to serve us in a quite nice thematic way during this Halloween period. It's true that I'm not a big fan of Cage and the little boy could have been less annoying, but the creepy elements and moments work perfectly chillingly, and the scares forced me to throw the remote control a meter away myself. A bit of a shame about the dreamy part, which slightly disrupted my impression, so that's why it's not a four. Still, I gladly give it three big ones, because even though I resisted this screening and came to it like a blind man to a violin, I can say I didn't make a mistake. A successful, pleasant, average urban legend affair. (22/11/2015)

Payout to the spirit brings absolutely nothing new to the world of film, but I didn't even feel that the film had any higher ambitions. Anyone who wants to watch an average horror thriller connected to an ancient legend will get exactly what they can expect from such a movie. (24/12/2015)

Pay the Ghost is one of those films that may not thrill, but it also doesn't offend. I'm happy to see Nicolas Cage in something with potential here and there. And I think this film had it, it just didn't fully utilize it and rather played on the fact that the creators know the audience and don't want to give it anything extra. Maybe they can't. Certainty is certainty and I'm quite happy with that. It didn't disappoint. (02/03/2017)