Pay the Ghost: DVD Review
Arriving this week on DVD and Blu-ray is Nicolas Cage led supernatural horror flick “Pay the Ghost”, directed by Uli Edel. I feel like over the past few years, Cage has been playing the same role over and over again. Within two years, he starred in two different films (Stolen, Rage) in which his character was searching for his kidnapped daughter, right before that he was out to find the men who assaulted his wife (Seeking Justice). In his latest film “Pay the Ghost”, Cage’s character is now searing for his abducted son, except this time, the kid was taken by a ghost.
College professor Mike Lawford (Cage) has just been granted tenure. His wife Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies) is happy for him, even though she wishes he would spend more time with their son Charlie (Jack Fulton). While out on Halloween, Charlie goes missing and Kristen blames Mike for not protecting their child.
Cut to a year later, Mike and Kristen are now living apart. While Kristen attempts to move on, Mike spends all his time following up on his missing son’s case. With just a few days till Halloween, Mike begins to see visions of his son and believes that Charlie is reaching out to him. Kristen also begins to see visions of Charlie. They soon learn that their son has been taken by the ghost of a witch and they have until midnight on Halloween to get him back from the other side.
“Pay the Ghost” is based on the novel by Tim Lebbon, which had the potential to be adapted into a solid horror film. However this never feels like anything more than another project that Cage had to do in order to pay the bills. There is nothing we haven’t seen before and Cage is just going through the motions again, which isn’t the least bit surprising.
By: Marc Ferman