The sequel, written and directed by Dallas Richard Hallam and Patrick Horvath (the duo who directed Entrance), tells the story of June and her boyfriend Daniel. Both are involved with law enforcement, Daniel is a beat cop who works nights and June cleans up crime scenes.
After an especially heinous murder, FBI agent Kevin Dickey arrives on the scene because the case resembles the Judas Killer cases from the first movie. Soon, June starts having strange dreams that are tying in to the murders and she discovers she much more involved than she realized.
Everything about The Pact 2 just feels so much lighter. The story is good, but not as tight and smart as the first one; the scares are competent, but never frightening; and the acting is adequate, but rarely good. The direction of the movie, overall, is solid. Hallam and Horvath know how to set the scares up right. They’re very good at raising the tension, but more often than not the climax fails to hit the high note that its looking for. This extends to the ultimate conclusion of the entire film.
Bringing Caity Lotz as Annie back into the movie was the best idea Hallam and crew could have had, she carries all of the scenes she is in on her back. Shes an instantly likeable protagonist and its a shame that she isnt introduced until well over halfway through. Camilla Luddington and Scott Michael Foster both play their parts well but falter during certain moments, Foster when hes attempting to be menacing and Luddington overacts occasionally in the most crucial points of the movie. Patrick Fischler as Agent Dickey seems off note the whole movie, always so close to really nailing the role but instead coming off as an odd and somewhat creepy character.
Pacing plays a big role in bogging the movie down. Five minutes packed full of jump scares will race off the screen and then 20 minutes of slow-moving plot progression take place before anything meaningful happens again. The script is far-reaching, going in a strange direction for a sequel, and it leaves much to be desired. It trips over itself and ties itself into the first movie with weak links and predictable plot points. The scares are all running at half speed, ramping up in a big way before bailing on the payoff.
By the end of The Pact 2 you wont hate it but you wont love it either. Seeing the first movie will actually prevent you from liking it more because you know how much potential it really had. It sets itself up for another sequel and if that does come to fruition it would be great to see some solid story asserted into the foundation and some more the chilling atmosphere that its predecessor created.
