Fearlessly embracing emotionally and physically terrifying situations, in a courageous attempt to achieve your goals and overcome your fears, is an enthralling and powerful theme in the horror thriller, ‘The Pact II.’ Dallas Richard Hallam and Patrick Horvath, the writers and directors of the sequel to scribe and helmer Nicholas McCarthy’s 2012 horror film, ‘The Pact,’ dauntlessly approached combining the emotional arc of the series’ characters with terrifying physical scares, to emphasize their brave attempts to maintain control over their lives. While the first film’s frightening serial killer was murdered at the end of its story, the franchise’s new filmmakers bravely emphasized how the series’ new and returning characters have mustered the endurance to continue battling his legacy, in order to protect themselves.
‘The Pact II,’ which is now available on VOD and DVD, is set a few weeks after its predecessor. The sequel follows June Abbott (Camilla Luddington), a woman whose carefully constructed life as an artist in Los Angeles is beginning to unravel. While Annie Barlow (Caity Lotz) exterminated the plague that was the Judas Killer in ‘The Pact,’ June is now experiencing the same lucid nightmares that the first film’s protagonist was having throughout the original story. The dreams are so awful, they begin disturbing June’s waking life.
When Special Agent Terrence Ballard (Patrick Fischler), the FBI agent assigned to wrap up the case of the newly deceased Judas Killer, shows up at June’s door, he brings with him some terrifying news. He informs her that there’s a Judas copycat killer in her neighborhood. In the course of his investigation, Ballard shows June a picture of one of the copycat killer’s victims, and she is stunned to see that it’s the same woman she saw brutally murdered in her nightmares. As a result, a series of hauntings begin to torment June, growing in frequency and ferocity over time. With her internal pain and agony over the killings continuously growing, June increasingly relies on her boyfriend, David (Scott Michael Foster), a police officer she lives with, to overcome her fears. June also reaches out to Annie, who she discovers was involved in the original Judas case, for advice on how to overcome her nightmares and fears.
But even with David and Annie’s help, not only does June see murder victims in her nightmares, but her dreams put her in the role of the murderer. June fears that the spirit of the Judas Killer is the architect of some greater plan in which she must now play a part. June struggles to maintain her grip on sanity as she plunges into her own investigation of these events. No matter the result, the truth will be horrifying; either there is true evil inside of her, or someone, or something, is determined to destroy her.
Hallam and Patrick Horvath generously took the time to talk about filming ‘The Pact II’ during an exclusive phone interview. Among other things, the filmmakers discussed how they’re fans of the original ‘Pact,’ so when the thriller’s producers, who admired the first horror movie they made together, ‘Entrance,’ approached them to make the sequel, they graciously signed onto the follow-up; how they knew Luddington, Foster and Fischler were the right actors for their respective roles when they first met them, as they understood their characters’ emotional arcs and were powerfully able to command attention; and how making the horror film independently was challenging, but it ultimately allowed them to creatively solve problems on the set, including how to captivatingly intertwine the characters’ emotions with the story’s action sequences.
ShockYa (SY): You co-wrote and co-directed ‘The Pact II’ together. Why were you both interested in making the sequel, and how did you become involved with the film?
Dallas Richard Hallam (DRH): Well, for starters, Pat and I didn’t set out to make this film specifically. We’re a directing duo, which goes back to when he first met in college. We worked on student films together in Iowa. Then when we came out here to L.A., we continued that tradition of helping each other out.
We made a movie together in 2009, called ‘Entrance.’ We decided to direct it together in the spur of the moment. We enjoyed the process so much, we’ve been doing it together ever since. So when the (producers) of ‘The Pact II’ approached us, they spoke to us as a team, as the producers of the first ‘Pact’ were fans of ‘Entrance.’ Pat and I were actually very big fans of the original ‘Pact.’ So the producers reached out to us when they were looking for someone to make the sequel.
Patrick Horvath (PH): I think the way we approach the production side of things, including the way that we write during pre-production, is similar in a lot of ways. It was definitely a push-and-pull creatively as we were putting things together. But once we’re in the thick of production, we almost operate like the same guy. We fill in where the other one can’t be, and we bounce ideas off of each other. So we have a fluid working relationship.
SY: Like you mentioned, the film is the sequel to writer-director Nicholas McCarthy’s 2012 horror mystery film, ‘The Pact.’ How did the original film influence, or inform, the way you both approached making ‘The Pact II?’
PH: Well, I think from a stylistic standpoint, we wanted to carry on a lot of the motifs that the first film set up. In a lot of ways, it’s more of a gothic horror film, in the sense that it’s totally dour, and takes its time in building the tension and scares. So we wanted to carry that along.
The first film also had a very controlled camera to it that we also wanted to carry forward. We were really interested in the fact that there wasn’t a super shaky camera.
We also took a lot of thematic jumping off points from the first ‘Pact.’ We used the fact that it was essentially this very toxic pact that was made by (Annie’s) mother and uncle, which was being carried forward a generation later. So we felt it was natural to carry that part of the story forward, and further show how twisted this pact was. That’s pretty much what informed us for the starting point of the sequel’s story.
DRH: We believe sequels should be able to sit on the shelf next to the original, so you can’t betray the first film. But you also want to put your own stamp on it. So when we met with Nicholas, it was very important to him that we brought ourselves into the sequel.
SY: Since ‘The Pact II’ is driven by action sequences, how did you balance the stunts and the emotional aspects of the story as you were filming?
PH: Well, for us, I think there’s definitely a strong drive to incorporate an emotional element into any of the terror that shows up on screen. For us, a lot of the turn-offs in a lot of horror films is the fact that the emotional arcs of characters are boiled down to them being antagonistic with each other. So you find yourself not really being able to connect with them emotionally.
So I think we’re always of the mind to infuse the emotional arc of the characters and the situation into a terrifying moment. For us, that seems like the natural thing to do. We take our cues from all sorts of films, not just horror ones. You can find dramatic films that really blend that genre line between horror and drama, so they don’t necessarily need to be one or the other. There’s definitely a flow between the two genres.
DRH: What Pat’s saying is perfect. When we think about what drove us as we were putting these moments together, audiences are really scared as they watch horror films when the characters are scared. The characters are essentially the most afraid of dying, which is a universal thing we can all connect to. To make a character interesting, you have to bring the drama into it. In ‘The Pact II,’ all the scenes that are meant to be scary, but there’s also a personal element that’s going on with the characters, which really wraps them in fear.
SY: What was the casting process like for the story’s new characters, including June Abbott and her boyfriend, Daniel, as well as Special Agent Terrence Ballard? How did casting Camilla Luddington, Scott Michael Foster and Patrick Fischler compare and contrast to featuring the returning actors from ‘the Pact,’ including Caity Lotz and Mark Steger?
DRH: Well, with each actor, there’s a different story. We saw a lot of actresses for Camilla’s role, but she was hands down the best. There were other good actresses for the role, but she’s someone who immediately owns the room when she walks in. She has the quality of being able to take over the screen. She’s also a very lovely person to be around.
Pat and I are firm believers that when you’re making a movie, you’re living life. So you should enjoy yourself and have fun with the people you’re working with.
The same idea goes for Patrick Fischler, who played Agent Ballard. We looked at a handful of other actors for the role, and Patrick came to us through an agent-to-agent connection. So we sat down with him to see if we would get along, and we ended up talking for hours at our first meeting.
We were very aware, and fans, of his career at our first meeting, so it was very easy to think he could come in and join our film. We then left him to his own devices, up until he got to the set. So we weren’t surprised at his portrayal of Agent Ballard, as we were waiting to see it. We was terrific, and blew us all away.
Scott was the last actor to sign onto the film. The role of Daniel was the hardest one to fill, and we looked at a lot of actors. The thing about Daniel that was so difficult was that he’s a clean-cut guy, but, without giving anything away, also has a dark edge to him. That’s a hard combination to really find in an actor. So Scott was the last guy that we saw of about 100 actors. But he was the first one that we knew immediately that he was the right actor, and we were lucky to get him.
SY: Were you able to have any rehearsal time with the actors before you began filming, to help build their characters’ backstories and arcs?
PH: Yes, we did have a little of time for rehearsal. A lot of that time went into the relationship between Camillia and Amy Pietz, who have this mother-daughter connection. In the story, June is very much the caretaker of Amy’s character, Maggie, and that’s how we wanted to play out the relationship. So they spent some time together to work on that relationship. Then the rest of it was running through character building with the actors, and exploring the characters with them. We also filled in the backstory that we hadn’t brought in yet.
SY: Did filming the thriller independently pose any challenges on the set, or did it help infuse the project with an extra creativity?
DRH: I think the answer is both. There definitely are more challenges when you don’t have significant money. We made our first film, ‘Entrance,’ for $6,000, which is such a small amount of money for a feature. But since the camera was never on a tripod or a dolly, and was always handheld, we would just go out into the world of Los Angeles without a permit, and shoot whatever we wanted. But even though it was such a low-budget movie, it was still infused with the world around it.
But with ‘The Pact II,’ it was just a large enough budget to use a dolly and a Steadicam. You then hit a point where you have enough money to play with, but you still don’t have enough to buy whatever you want.
So you have to be extra creative, which often comes from problem-solving. Sometimes you hit a wall when you’re trying to achieve something, and it seems impossible to get over, but you do find a creative way to get around it. So it’s always challenging to make a low-budget movie, but there are also a lot of good things that come out of it, too.
SY: The thriller received a theatrical and on VOD release. Are you personally a fan of watching movies On Demand, and do you think the platform is beneficial for independent films like ‘The Pact II?’
PH: I think it’s definitely beneficial, because somebody is going to definitely be going to be more apt to click on a film at home. VOD is definitely radically changing everything. I think it’s absolutely helping spread out independent films that might not ever make it to a theatrical release.
When we first joined this project, we were told that it was probably going to be Video On Demand, with a possible theatrical release. But that distribution is is becoming the norm. It’s also becoming the norm for these films to find an entirely new audience on a subscription-based medium, like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. So it’s interesting that these movies are receiving a wider audience through these different life cycles, which is totally interesting.
SY: Besides ‘The Pact II,’ do you both have any other upcoming projects lined up that you can discuss? Are you planning on working together again on another horror film?
DRH: We have two things in development now. We can’t say too much about the next project we’re working on together, but it’s much more straight-forward, midnight horror. Then after that, we have an update on a family psycho thriller. (laughs) We’re going to both be working on those two projects together.
Written by: Karen Benardello