23
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 42The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe movie’s B-movie flimsiness is pervasive, and paired with an overall lack of B-movie flair, though director Uli Edel makes some game yarn-spinning attempts.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithIn Pay the Ghost, Nicolas Cage investigates a supernatural abduction, but has no solution for the maggot-eaten zombie that is his undead career.
- 30Village VoiceChris PackhamVillage VoiceChris PackhamThe script doesn't know the difference between being something scary and pointing at something scary. It's less a film than a series of imitative gestures, a bunch of horror signifiers pointing to nothing.
- 30Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiLos Angeles TimesMartin TsaiTidbits that would make the film interesting have been squandered. Instead, we get the standard-issue haunted-house fodder. The ghosts manifest in so many different ways that it seems like the movie is grasping for straws.
- 30The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDan Kay’s filament-thin story, accessorized with flapping vultures and disturbing graffiti, relies entirely on Mr. Cage’s desperate-dad energy.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckWhatever you have to pay, it's too much.
- The highest compliment that can be made of the movie is that it is harmless: never laughably bad, never painful, just pure mediocrity, from start to finish.
- 25RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoPay the Ghost, out in very limited release today, is 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.
- 10VarietyAndrew BarkerVarietyAndrew BarkerThis somnolent supernatural thriller is a low-energy wash from start to finish.