Faux documentary/found footage sequel has returning reporter Gal Roberts (Suziey Block) following the stories of the mysterious death of a woman named Minerva (Solveig Helene) and the disappearance of a young mother named Ameliana (Brooke Bradshaw). Both are close to the area where Gary Hinge disappeared and as various camera footage is examined and interviews made, the investigative reporter starts to believe there might be a frightening connection.
Second installment in what appears to be a growing franchise is again written and directed by Dutch Marich. The filmmaker turns up the spooky as it starts out with the investigation of the untimely and strange death of student Minerva Sound, using her phone footage, VHS footage from a creepy former tenant, and interviews and footage from a neighbor, EMTs and first responders. It paints a picture of something very unsettling going on around her remote trailer leading up to her mysterious death. It then leads Roberts to the disappearance of young mom Ameliana Brasher whose car broke down nearby. The dashcam footage and EMT footage paint a very chilling picture of what might have happened to her…one with a disturbing similarity to that of the disappearance of Gary Hinge. Marich crafts an effective and chilling found footage flick that eerily expands on what we saw in the first film and is definitely building towards something bigger. One hopes Marich keeps making these, his imagination continues to take us on a spooky ride and his eventual payoff is worthy of the journey. Bring on part three!
Faux documentary/found footage flick follows the investigation into the disappearance of hiker/survivalist Gary Hinge (Eric Mencis) by a reporter (Suziey Block), a private investigator (David Morales) and Gary’s sister (Tonya Williams-Ogden). Gary disappeared while hiking in the Nevada High Desert and after weeks of futile searching, new evidence starts to point to Gary’s possible fate.
Written and directed by Dutch Marich this is an effective and well-made flick. The cast are a big part of why this works by giving convincing performances that help the audience believe they are watching real people and real footage. Marich also gives the film some nice atmosphere to keep us intrigued and a bit unnerved. The mystery portion works well and is engaging and a little unsettling. We get clues from Gary’s blog footage along the way, and then the last night and reveal come from the missing man’s found camera. That footage is spooky and works well enough, though it’s not as scary as we would have liked. Once you see what there is to see for more than a few minutes, it starts to lose its effect. Overall, this was a solid effort by Marich and succeeds far more than it fails, which it really doesn’t do aside from a climax that could have been scarier. Worth streaming on Amazon and Tubi if you like faux documentaries and found footage.
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I really enjoyed Nicholas McCarthy’s The Pact. It was a spooky little movie with some nice surprises and well-acted by it’s small cast. Obviously, I was hesitant that they were making a sequel without McCarthy’s involvement and while The Pact 2 doesn’t come close to the original, it was a moderately entertaining supernatural thriller.
The story takes place after the events of the last film and focuses on pretty crime scene cleaner June (Camilla Luddington) who is also an aspiring illustrator. June is having dreams about a woman named Ellie (Suziey Block) who is the recent victim of, what appears to be, a Judas Killer (Mark Steger) copy-cat. Without realizing it, she is drawing her dreams and revealing Ellie’s fate in her work. Worse still, an eccentric FBI agent (Patrick Fischler) feels she might be in danger due to a shocking connection to the original killer and one of his victims, Jennifer Glick. Finding no comfort from her policeman boyfriend (Scott Michael Foster), June turns to the one person who might be able to help, Annie Barlow (Caity Lotz), the woman who finally took the Judas Killer down. But, can either escape this new and unknown serial murderer…or the vengeful spirit of the original Judas Killer?
Written and directed by Dallas Richard Hallam and Patrick Horvath, this unnecessary sequel does have some spooky moments but, also gets a little convoluted by it’s end. Overall, it was moderately entertaining but, the writers do stretch things a bit to get their new character June, connected to the Judas Killer and it’s a bit cliché. Of course, having a policeman boyfriend and an FBI agent around is of no use to her and she has to investigate things on her own and with the help of Annie. This conveniently puts them both in harm’s way and even Ellie’s spirit giving them clues, doesn’t bring them all that closer to the killer. As for the copy-cat reveal, it comes out of nowhere and is there to add shock value and not make real sense. What helps the film is that, as directors, the pair do give the film some atmosphere and there are some genuinely spooky moments, as June is haunted by both, victim Ellie and serial killer Judas.
June is an interesting character and thought the rest of the cast are a bit flat, Luddington and the returning Caity Lotz are both likable and we wish the film had focused on their teamwork a bit more. Patrick Fischler’s FBI agent Ballard seems to only exist to provide exposition and suspicion and Foster’s cop boyfriend pops in and out of the story when needed. Like the original film, this focuses on a small central group of characters, mostly on it’s leading ladies.
So, this sequel passed the time and I was never bored though, there was little fresh or innovative. The filmmakers are far better directors than writers, as the script is a bit convoluted and cliché but, the film is atmospheric and has some creepy moments. Lead character June is likable as is Camilla Luddington in the part and it was nice to see Lotz return. There were some familiar faces and links to keep this from being a completely detached sequel though, we wish McCarthy had some involvement to make things mesh a bit better. Overall it’s worth a look but, go in with moderate expectations and don’t expect an equal to the enjoyable and spooky first film.
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