Strictly average movie

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

PAY THE GHOST sees the extraordinarily hard-working Nicolas Cage having a go at the horror genre in the form of this miserable, greyed-out ghost story. He plays a somewhat bumbling teacher and father who manages to lose his kid at a carnival and goes on a quest to find him again. It soon transpires that dark supernatural forces are at work, forcing Cage to enter a kind of netherworld to retrieve his child. As with most Hollywood ghost stories, this plays out with a maximum of cheesy CGI effects used to represent ghostliness and a minimum of wit and intelligence. Cage tries hard to invest in his role but doesn't quite succeed while Sarah Wayne Callies doesn't seem to try at all as his wife. As for the scares, well, you can forget about any of them.

Once a pride actor, now he's doing lots of low cost quick films. The II and III tier directors and producers trying to get the best use of their golden opportunities. So the Nicolas Cage into this after the legal struggle in real life, but people have different opinion without knowing the truth. He definitely would come back to his old form, but it's not known when. All these his recent B films just somewhat shines because of having him onboard. So this flick as well too ordinary and stupid, though watchable because of the Cage.The story was maybe a hundredth adaptation. Anybody with the knowledge of the decent horror films can predict the entire narration. But the different cast, setting, et cetera makes it worth a watch. Definitely not scary or the suspenseful, yet everybody tried their best to make the product better. Only the first half, mostly the first quarter was the better part of the film. So if you pick it on the basis of the story, you will be disappointed badly. This film is not worth unless you're a Cage's fan who backs him every time or love to take chances on the B films. Overall film was okay, but I think the end should have been better. I might have said a few good things about it, but I can't recommend it.4/10

Is Pay The Ghost a Cage classic like 8mm or Face/Off? Nowhere near it. Is it as bad as some people are making it out to be? No, and at least it's better than guff like Gone In 60 Seconds or Bringing Out The Dead. I mean what's better? A film that at least tries to put together some sort of a story (even if it is a bit lacking) or films that have none or are just earlier versions of Fast & The Furious? I know what I'd rather go with.Pay The Ghost isn't that fantastic, and I'm not suggesting that it is, but for all the complaints it has received, it's altogether not THAT bad. I mean granted the story has been done a thousand times before and it's loaded with clichés (hard to find movies that don't have clichés to be honest), but this film never sets out to be a fantastic Oscar winning epic. It's a middle-of-the-road Horror film, and you get pretty much exactly what you pay for here. Nothing about the story kept me on the edge of my seat, but nothing about it wanted me to slit my wrists for something better to do either. There were a few decent moments scattered throughout, but it wasn't really all that scary.Some people moan about him but for the most part I enjoy watching Nicolas Cage. Is he over-the-top in some films? Yes, but generally he's a pretty solid actor. You tend to kind of know what you'll get with Cage. His performance in Pay The Ghost isn't anything to write home about but I think with this type of film & story if he put any more into it, then it would have been too much. I don't generally mind Sarah Wayne Callies', but the characters she plays do tend to rub me the wrong way. Her character in The Walking Dead was like that and her character here did the same.I'd say to give this film a shot if you like Nicolas Cage films or if there's nothing else better for you to watch, but other than that it's a bit of a watch it and forget it type of movie.

Wonderful, smooth film. The action never ends and there is a ghost different subjects. Nicolas still shows great performance. You can watch without getting bored. Scared been a bit more fantastic. In fact it could be better. The film was stretched a little time in doing so. The most crucial areas does not take much. This seems to be the sequel. at least I perceive it. If you continue in my opinion it would be fine. Visual effects, music and so much good although really impressive monitored. You do not understand how that time is not now. I would recommend to those watching. I do not understand why this movie actually given so few points. I think it deserves a high score.