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Pay the Ghost

Play trailer 2:17 Poster for Pay the Ghost Released Sep 25, 2015 1h 34m Mystery & Thriller Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
10% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Haunted by eerie images and unexplainable messages, a man (Nicolas Cage) tries to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of his son.
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Pay the Ghost

Pay the Ghost

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Critics Consensus

Pay the Ghost takes a weak stab at supernatural horror, but ultimately, it's only viewers who will pay for watching this sloppily assembled picture.

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Critics Reviews

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Andrew Barker Variety If it's remembered for nothing else, and it almost certainly won't be, Uli Edel's "Pay the Ghost" can at least make a claim to being the first film to feature a haunted razor scooter in a horror setpiece. Sep 26, 2015 Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com A new low for Nicolas Cage. Just when you thought he couldn't get any more apathetic about a role, he pops up in this lazy, boring retread of "Insidious" that even his most diehard fans should ignore. Rated: 1/4 Sep 25, 2015 Full Review Tom Long Detroit News Fine, sure, "Pay the Ghost" if you have to. But do not pay good American money to see the movie of the same name. Rated: D+ Sep 25, 2015 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review As for Cage, he’s done a lot worse, but he’s done a lot better too. Rated: 2/4 May 27, 2022 Full Review Emma Wolfe SpookyAstronauts It was so much content that you didn't know what bit to take seriously so it was just continuous scares throughout the whole movie instead of building it up. Rated: 4/10 May 19, 2021 Full Review Robert Kojder Flickering Myth Cage plays 90% of Pay the Ghost straight, which is a shame because his off-the-wall antics and expressionistic meltdowns would have definitely mitigated extreme boredom and lazy writing into something possibly worth remembering for laughs Rated: 1/5 Dec 3, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 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 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 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 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 out of 5 stars 04/06/25 Full Review Keith S Low budget, GREAT movie and ending, Nicolas cage and the rest of these wonderful actors and actresses deliver! Not to scary but just the right amount of scary and folklore added to this bad a** low budget horror Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Pay the Ghost

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Haunted by eerie images and unexplainable messages, a man (Nicolas Cage) tries to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of his son.
Director
Uli Edel
Producer
Nicolas Chartier, Craig J. Flores, Patrick Newall, Ian Levy
Screenwriter
Dan Kay
Distributor
RLJ Entertainment
Production Co
Voltage Pictures
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 25, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 34m
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