Pay the Ghost

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Tom M Nic Cage makes a movie a month. Some good, most bad. This is in the latter category but not as bad as others. It builds slowly but not all that creepily. The reveal is a bit ho hum for a horror. Doesn't make a lot of sense. The flying children at the end is just damn silly. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/04/25 Full Review Gabriel S Uli Edel is known for having his finger in a bunch of genre pies—from horror to crime to historical fiction—crafting flicks for the big screen, television, series, mini-series, you name it. With Pay the Ghost, Edel opted for a limited release strategy, sending it straight to VOD—probably because he realized this flick was a solid lackluster. The story follows Cage—I mean, Mike—the always-busy professor, husband to Kristen, and father to Charlie. He’s struggling to land that one contract, their lives “apparently” hitting a financial low, and his relationship with his family souring due to his lack of presence. Trying to make up for missing Halloween trick-or-treating, he takes his son to a local fair… where Charlie goes missing. At this point, I need to stop—because otherwise, I’d already be halfway through the film. And that’s the main problem with this flick: its depth. Pay the Ghost is so shallow and fast-paced—likely to compensate for its shallowness—that the synopsis covers about 50% of the movie. Everything moves at the speed of light with little context, characters accepting supernatural elements without question, characters that exist just to fill plot holes, yet making them deeper, just pushing the plot forward beat after beat toward a predictable and boring conclusion… capped off with an even more boring post-credit scene. Pay the Ghost is apparently based on a short story by British writer Tim Lebbon. I’ll have to read it, because premise-wise, it feels like the short story might actually be good. Too bad the screenwriters couldn’t stretch the source material into a compelling feature-length film. And that’s not even getting into Nicolas Cage’s acting. I love him—really do—but he’s always Nicolas Cage. That can work or not work. No in-betweens. In this flick, it just doesn’t work. Yet… I still love him. Overall? Lackluster and weak. Just avoid entirely. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Melissa L I really cannot believe this movie is rated so poorly. It's an excellent movie that could be watched Halloween or Samhaim or year-round. Recommended. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/03/25 Full Review Korra N A subpar supernatural chiller with Nic Cage in a role that should've gone to a different actor. It's not a bad movie, but it's not good either. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review Efrain R Don't pay attention to the bad reviews (pun not intended). This is not as bad as they make it sound. The main issue with this movie is that it's way behind its time. This formula worked well during the 80s and 90s. For 2015? Not so much. It's far from being a good movie, but you won't feel the it wasted your time. I recommend giving it a try. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/21/25 Full Review Jason W Nothing revolutionary or stand out, but it was a decent film with a great cast. If you enjoy Paranormal type stuff like Conjuring, Insidious, Dead Silence, etc, you might dig it. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/06/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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