Pay the Ghost stars Nicholas Cage as a father and professor, but not killing it at both, and Sarah Wayne Callies as his wife and mother of his child who is understanding to a point that temporarily his career has to come first until he gets tenure. The idea of Cage as a professor is a little astonishing, but OK. If you’re familiar with The Walking Dead and Callies’ work as the worst mother ever to have during the zombie apocalypse (or the most recent season of Prison Break), then you know that their kid is somewhat doomed.
Pay the Ghost is a lot of hullabaloo just so that a father can appreciate his family, which makes it more like a disaster movie than a horror movie. The supernatural is simply a catalyst that jeopardizes his family just enough to make him have to put in extra effort to keep them, but not so much that it destroys the family completely. When the ghost does kill, the ghost seems more preoccupied with protecting privacy than retaining the purloined. Kill Cage, and all your problems go away because no one else was interested in investigating you, but no, the ghost refuses. It makes the whole enterprise frustrating. Be best, ghost!
Pay the Ghost seems as if it had the seeds of a good story, but just couldn’t be bothered to follow through. It starts with a flashback to 1679 Manhattan, which makes it seem promising, but it isn’t, and when we eventually revisit the flashback, it seems unnecessary at that point. We can pretty much figure out what happened. The whole professor thing seems like there will be a big narrative payoff, but not really. There is a random reference to Reformed Celtics. What is that? Who knows—it seems vaguely witchy in a cinematic sense, but probably isn’t an accurate depiction. I suspect that actual Celtic worshippers would be offended by their portrayal in this movie. I could be wrong, but the movie is supposed to take place in Manhattan, but I swear that I heard a detective reference Arizona, which is extra confusing since Arizona wasn’t even a filming location. Choosing Halloween as the day when the drama takes place seems evocative, but ultimately falls flat, and I would have preferred that the special day was the day of the execution. For me, the most aggravating moment is that Cage is holding his kid in the perfect way to insure that he doesn’t run off until he isn’t. Also I never went to the Halloween parade when I lived in Manhattan, but is it suitable for kids? I vaguely feel as if it is a more *ahem* adult celebration.
Pay the Ghost never met a jump scare that it didn’t like. It is the kind of movie that seems to think that shrieking ghostly figures and vultures are innately frightening, which I do not. If this movie did not get released before Hereditary, I would have thought that it stole elements from that movie. It definitely took a feature from The Shining though it did nothing to amplify the tension in the movie. The movie’s central problem is that there is no ambiguity. We never doubt that the supernatural is responsible for this family’s woes, and not Cage’s character; therefore the profile and rules of this supernatural figure needed to be stronger for us to get invested in Cage’s journey. How can everyone and no one know about this phenomenon? It never gelled.
Also mixing supernatural lore bugs me. A vengeful ghost’s powers should fall in one specific area, and I’m not ready to sign a waiver that possession should be included in that list, but that seems more demonic. What is the deal that she has with the vultures? If the ghost was misunderstood when alive, how does the ghost have access to an alternate realm. Is the choice in victims arbitrary or are there some criteria? I will give the ghost some credit for reflecting more diversity than a Woody Allen film in New York. The ghost has clearly evolved from the seventeenth century and is changing tastes to reflect the demographic of the island. Good for you, ghost.
The best part of Pay the Ghost was Stephen McHattie, which is probably how this dreadful movie ended up in my queue. He plays a trope of a homeless blind man who of course knows about everything about this supernatural figure, but he does such a good job that I didn’t quite mind. His scenes are the most interesting although if you think about him too long, you begin to think of inconvenient questions such as why didn’t you say anything sooner? Of course no one would believe him, but still. I like that all the homeless people just peace out and go elsewhere for Halloween because they don’t want these problems.
Pay the Ghost’s soundtrack made no impression on me, but I actually love Joseph LoDuca, who made the Xena: The Warrior Princess Soundtrack. He seems to share inspiration with Bear McCreary, who did the soundtrack for Battlestar Galactica and another fave of mine, but seems to have a better resume.
Pay the Ghost is not worth anyone’s time. Everyone in this movie deserved better. At least it is a short movie, but if you’re looking for a truly scary movie, look elsewhere. If you’re a fan of anyone in the cast, support them by watching another movie.