The Pact; The Possession; The Man With The Iron Fists

The Pact
Directed by Nicholas McCarthy

There exists a horror movie named 'The Pact'... and that's almost all there is to say about it. The concept is vague, performances unspectacular, and though there are a few suspenseful scenes, they often end abruptly and with little payoff. The movie starts too quickly, explains itself too slowly, and doesn't give the potentially horrifying villain much to work with. I'm sure this movie has as audience that would appreciate it more than me, but I found it too uninspired to be fully drawn into.

The Possession
Directed by Ole Bornedal

Yes, another dull, uninspired horror movie. As a matter of fact, I watched this as well as 'The Pact' on consecutive days. And no, neither is much better than the other. Where the aforementioned takes the road less travelled, The Possession instead chooses to follow in the footsteps of much better movies than it is itself. Though it may be a bigger mistake, it does manage to deliver the scares much more effectively -- albeit, in the most typical of ways. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's sympathetic performance gives the story a little more weight, but there is still nothing this film has to offer that hasn't already been mastered before by much more original, creepier movies.

The Man With The Iron Fists
Directed by RZA

Despite its blatant stupidity and gory excess, there was something about this movie I found slightly boring. I can even put a name on that thing: RZA. As a director: fine, whatever. As a leading man: no. Just no. This is not a movie that you care about the story in at all. You're here to see someone have their eye punched out of their head, or cut to pieces by blades being shot from mechanisms on people's wrists; not to see a dull actor sleepwalking through his scenes. His whole purpose seemed to be to drag the movie down with his uninteresting storyline and poor acting. Regardless, this was a solidly entertaining movie, with some fun fight scenes and a silly enough sense of humor to keep it all in check.