Almost a year after the abduction of their son from a Halloween carnival, Mike Crawford (Nicolas Cage) and wife Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies) begin to see ghostly visions, which lead them to believe they still have a chance to save him.
The frantic husband/father searching for answers schtick must be so familiar to Cage by now that he could probably do it sleepwalking on a tightrope during hurricane season. Callies by comparison looks young enough to be his rebellious daughter, which is why their separation since their son’s disappearance works well with the dynamic of this mismatched duo. She’s been in Prison Break. She’s been in The Walking Dead. And I have to ask…does she always have that “bunny caught in the headlights” look on her face?
Pay The Ghost has an entertaining streak with its quick jump scares, its violent kills and its very own generic origin ghost story, but in doing so it leaves room for several plot-holes. Although they create a potentially greater threat, the ghost witch’s murderous ways are out of character, and simply do not make sense. She abducts children to her corner of the netherworld, that’s it. She was never a killer. And even if she was, the death of Crawford’s colleague is pointless because it occurs too late in the story. And why spare the blind homeless man?
LAST WORDS:
The ghost witch isn’t the most original villain, but there have been enough years between her and the tooth fairy from Darkness Falls (2003) for that to be okay. This won’t be your favourite horror movie, but there’s enough to keep you interested. It’s certainly better than anything else that’s been released this year so far!