madisonmoss92
I watched this for Sebastian Stan...and honestly that's still most of the reason I would watch it, though I definitely won't pick this one again. His character was the most complex and interesting, and he acted as well as he could with the script given. That's really as far as my compliments go.The concept had SO MUCH potential and the writers scrapped it for Mary Sues and eye candy. I was hoping that maybe they had based it off a book and then done a horrible adaptation, but no, it's just original garbage.Four boys, who are supposed to be like brothers (but have no chemistry at all), are part of a centuries old coven of witches. They began realizing their powers at 13, but at 18 is when they "ascend" and become even more powerful because why the heck not, let's roll with it. The problems is that the power is addictive, like a drug, and also their life source. If they "use" too much, they age too quickly and die.None of them seem to have any particular moral compass, especially after that beginning party scene. Nevertheless, they are the "good guys". They're from old money families too, so they live in nice mansions, have expensive cars, and definitely won't have to work a day in their lives. So they could've been rich brats, but we can't have rich, white male protagonists portrayed realistically, so they're not *really* brats. Except the one Sebastian Stan plays because he's a psychopath addicted to his magical powers and killing people is as simple as kissing his enemies.Caleb, the main character, has NO personality. He only smiles because he's kissing a cute blonde, or because he supposedly said a cheesy line that we expect young, partying teenagers to say. It was so forced! The actor portraying him has a deep voice, which was taken in this film to be "he's the serious guy, therefore the main character and the hero." But there is no emotional connection to anything. He honestly could've just played the psychopath and I would maybe have gone with it. His friend, Pogue (old family name I guess? I wouldn't be bothered if there was a good explanation with it), seemed to have a hard time pulling off the jealous type. He was cartoonishly bad. The other two just didn't get enough story time to even be considered real characters. I mean, they were there, but why? They barely contributed to anything at all. Sarah was inconsistent. At times, she came off as bold and fun, thinking outside the box. But this only happened when she was about to show off her sexy side. Whenever there was danger involved, her IQ dropped and so did her balls. I couldn't tell what age group they were actually supposed to be, regardless of the plot telling me they were all 17 years old.Lots of skin. Unnecessary skin. We really needed that shower scene to be dragged out as long as it was. Naked boys in a locker room, plus swimming trunks that look liable to fall of because of they way they are worn. Lots of the lead waking up shirtless and sweating. And what high school girls wear that kind of lingerie to bed on the casual?Caleb's mom is introduced as a drunk, smoking mess. This is made further depressing as she goes on about Caleb and his dad and the misuse of powers, because that's exactly how she welcomes him home every single night I guess. After the drama of the party scene, we get to enjoy that drivel. And then she's later shown to be somewhat caring toward him at the very end, because that's what all mothers do no matter how much of a drunk they might be.I spent the first twenty minutes of this film wondering "okay, so what's the point of all this?" and then after a couple weird things happened I had guessed the entire rest of the film. Even down to the anticlimactic fight scene and the underbaked romance.Also, the editing is so strange! It's not even an artistic measure, it's just not well done. Scenes cut at odd moments, they continue onto segments that don't feel connected. Random aerial shots of gothic architecture/scenery, probably just to add screen time because otherwise this film would be relatively short. After Sarah freaks out in the shower and she runs into Reid, why in the world would she - a naked girl in a towel - follow Reid - a stranger she barely talked to at a party - back into the creepy bathroom? And then Reid is obviously not a gentleman because it randomly cuts to them back in the hallway and he just makes an excuse to leave and she's alone in a towel in the hallway at night. Like, yes, drag her back to a creepy place and then leave the poor thing while she's extremely vulnerable, that's exactly what to do. Don't walk her to the door and make sure nothing harms her.Also, there was random drama between some other high school boy who had NO part in the plot whatsoever. He was just annoying, but he wasn't the bad guy, he didn't even make particular problems that moved the plot along. The bar fight was out of place and unnecessary.Chase, the villain, like I said earlier was the most interesting. Only because he is portrayed as such a non-big character in the beginning. He get's introduced, randomly butts into a fight to say a one-liner, and then is played off as a side character until the scene where he discusses the random student who dies (that not one seemed to miss). I could tell the film was trying to draw my attention away. It failed, partially because Sebastian was the reason I was watching, but also because the horrible writing drew my attention to how weird he was being shown in an instant. And while he is scary in the fact that he likes killing, he doesn't do anything else to wreak havoc. He doesn't even get to be a bad boy for a full day before he has a terrible magic fight and disappears into thin air making us all question whether he actually died. There's the hint at the end that he might have lived, but since we have no sequel, we don't care.Dry, dragging on, and devoid of life. Mind-numbing drivel, essentially.
bettycjung
6/3/18. Keep in mind that this is a teen horror movie. And for the genre, it wasn't too bad. All the guys are buff and all the girls are pretty, but they all have something going on underneath. Special effects were pretty good considering this movie is now 12 years old! Lot of the actors and actresses have disappeared into the woodwork, but worth catching. I found the music to be a bit loud and much, but then again, like I said, it's a teen horror movie.
Leofwine_draca
THE COVENANT is an appalling teen horror film directed by Renny Harlin, the once-great purveyor of such delights as DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER. The mighty have fallen and there's no evidence of Harlin's skill in this boring and derivative little movie that plays as a gender-swap rerun of THE CRAFT. After a promising credits sequence bringing to life images of the witch burning in Salem in the 17th century, we're thrown into a usual high-school type movie except this time you get the impression they're trying to make a HARRY POTTER-type film for teenagers.Straight away we're in the middle of poor CGI special effects used for no reason other than to show special effects and a bunch of utterly uninteresting cast members who couldn't act their ways out of a paper bag. Particularly to blame is the awful Steven Strait, whose lead Caleb has to be one of the most routine leads I've ever watched in a film. This guy has no personality whatsoever, nothing that makes him stand out, and I was yawning every time he appeared on screen. Then again, his insipid love interest is no better, and it's little surprise that Harlin films her tattoos more often than her face.This almost plot less mess involves four young warlocks who use their powers in the local bars and nightclubs until another kid at the school is found dead. Then it turns out a fifth member of the group, supposedly dead, is more than alive and the film ends with a battle between he and Caleb. That's it. The other guys hardly get a look in and the Draco Malfoy lookalike barely registers despite figuring prominently during the first half. The ending has to be one of the worst I've seen, just a couple of guys hurling 'magic bolts' at each other until one dies. It lasts about twenty minutes and the FX are as crappy as ever. It reminded me a little of the ending of THE MEDALLION, but even Julian Sands and Lee Evans look like distinguished thespians in comparison to the guys on show here.One sub-plot involves a 'spider curse' that causes horrible bugs to crawl over the female victim, but even these critters are poor CGI animations that rob any of the gross-out factor that might otherwise have resulted. Harlin is clearly bored of his role, acknowledging that his material is tired and predictable and choosing to focus instead on young girls in their nightwear and young men nude in the changing rooms in a hope to keep his audience's attention. It doesn't work. There's nothing to recommend in this film whatsoever.
SnoopyStyle
There is the Power that people have harnessed over the centuries. After the persecution of the Salem witch trials, the Sons of Ipswich form a covenant of silence keeping a 300 year old secret. Four friends Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait), Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford) and Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway) are all warlocks descendants of a coven of witches. The boys are from Spenser Academy, Sarah Wenham (Laura Ramsey) is the new girl, and Kate Tunney (Jessica Lucas) is their friend. There is a fifth line of witches long thought lost. Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan) is another kid in the school.The powers are way too magical, way too random, and way too powerful. It's unreasonable for anybody to keep this a secret. There are no rules to their powers and it's hard to see its limits. The guys are interchangeable. There are too many lookalike pretty boys. Quite frankly, Steven Strait doesn't have it to stand out as the lead in this movie. Also it doesn't really set up the danger that well. The movie generally rambles on and on without any flow. It is in need of a villain early on for the guys to battle. Instead it's trying to be a mystery as to who the villain is and I don't really care. It's just not that compelling.
