Delayed Reaction: The Pact 2

Premise: A woman comes to believe that the Judas Killer or a copycat is killing people in her area.

 

When making a horror movie into a franchise, there needs to be an identifiable hook. It can be thin, like Halloween. That series is about Michael Myers in the mask killing people. It can be more specific, like I Know What You Did Last Summer with the murder coverup and killer with, well, a literal hook. Amityville Horror has the haunted house. The Exorcist has the demonic possessions. There's something about these series that can be summed up easily.

 

That's not as clear with The Pact. Its gimmick is the secret room. The Judas Killer is creepy but not in a distinctive way. In fact, he becomes less creepy in the first movie simply by being revealed to exist. So, The Pact 2 was set up to fail. The lead actress duties shift from Caity Lotz to Camilla Luddington. The Judas Killer having a copycat isn't that interesting. The movie could just as easily be an original movie with very few changes.

 

The title still doesn't make sense, and the poster makes even less sense this time. It still has the cool image of something screaming through the walls, but the "hiding in a secret room" gimmick is gone in this movie. And I still don't know what pact it is referring to.

 

Oddly enough, I did prefer this movie over the original, slightly. The cast is a bit more notable. Luddington is a lateral move from Lotz, and Lotz comes back anyway. Scott Michael Foster and Patrick Fischler are very recognizable to anyone who watches TV. They bring a little more to the vibe of this movie. It's still feels like a fancy movie-of-the-week, but the story matches the style more. It would be a stretch to say I liked the movie; however, this plays better as a trashy thriller than the first movie did as a sincere scary movie.

 

Verdict: Strongly Don't Recommend