Weekly Review -- Between spellbound and spelled out

The Covenant (2006) -- There are not too many films nowadays that deal with supernatural themes in a cinematically menacing manner. The newer horror films in general are usually saturated with beautiful people, CGI effects and MTV-style slang dialogue, with little or no attention being paid to the intrusion of the paranormal occurrences in the characters' lives or a possible metaphorical meaning of these events. These are all elements that make retro supernatural horror films, such as Don't Look Now and The Shining, relevant even today. Renny Harlin's new thriller contains an interesting premise, but suffers from poor execution. Caleb (Steven Strait), Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Tyler (Chace Crawford) and Reid (Toby Hemingway) are commonly known as the Sons of Ipswich in their Massachusetts hometown. They are descendants of a paranormal legacy and inheritors of Wicca powers that can weaken them if overused. Enter new guy, cocky Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan), whose behavior threatens to expose the four friends' haunting backgrounds and endanger their families. The writing leaves much to be desired. The screenplay feels like a cliché draft, populated with underdeveloped characters and gratuitous nudity without context. The dialogues are bland, expositional and in dire need of refreshing quips. The acting is not much better, since the cast is wooden and do not even make the best of what they have to work with. Now, for the positive aspects. The mythology of the story is very interesting, especially since films about male witches are hard to come by. The villain provides an opportunity to be quite a character; there are some truly innovative effects; the locales and cinematography are gorgeous and fit the story to a T; and there are some beautiful shots, such as the one of Sarah (Laura Ramsey) and Caleb in front of the Danvers mansion. It all comes down to the script again, though, which fails to add layers to the story and capitalize on its potential. There is not much substance beneath the glossy surface, which makes you wonder why such a unique story was just cranked out and not explored in more detail. All in all, I did not think that The Covenant deserved the bashing it received upon its release, but the fact remains that its promise was unfulfilled.

5/10