Welcome, Pledges, to Episode 025 of Horror Movie Weekly, One Badass Horror Podcast. This week your three late-night Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead, BillChete, and Lady Phantom, bring you an in-depth review of Pledge (2019). And since this episode was recorded two days before the 92nd Academy Awards, we talk some Oscar predictions and a couple of non-Horror movie recommendations. Join us!
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— Welcome to Episode 025
– BillChete’s pick for this week: Pledge (2019)
Pledge (2019) — Genre Classification: Horror / Drama / Thriller / Mystery
Premise:
It’s Rush Week, and a small group of nerdy college freshmen desperately want to find a fraternity that will permit them to pledge. When they find a house that will let them pledge, the hazing is much more severe than they could have ever imagined…
Ratings and Recommendations: Pledge (2019)
Jay of the Dead = 7.5 ( Strong Rental )
BillChete = 5 ( Avoid )
Lady Phantom = 7 ( High-priority Rental )
Addenda:
– Jay’s true sorority story
– BillChete’s non-Horror movie recommendation: Ex Machina (2015)
– Jay: Sunshine (2007), Birds of Prey (2020)
– Joker (2019) and the 92nd Academy Award predictions
Next on Episode 026: Countdown (2019) — Lady Phantom’s pick!
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Jay recommends listening to his Best Picture Nominees Overview and Video Store Nostalgia With Dr. Shock
Follow Horror Movie Weekly on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at [email protected]
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Let the comments come!
Hello HMW Folk!
Spoilers Ahoy…
I would never go through this pledge ritual myself so it’s a little tough to empathize with these extremely desperate fellas. They should have been a tad more suspicious when 3 random guys walking down a street would be approached as equals for this exclusive club. (Especially by a kind, beautiful woman.)
I feel like I’ve seen this vibe in movies a few times before. It brought to mind Voodoo with Corey Feldman (1995) and many other Pledge and Skull and Bone type films.
I lost believability during the elbows, knees, belt whipping scene. I thought the five guys should turn on the three and beat the hell out of them. (This was before i knew one of the 5 guys was also a genuine pledge.)
l liked the big guy and the nerdy guy with the infected burn however. In the scene where they thought they were leaving, I thought it was played well as they were still between believing the pledge ritual and wondering if they were giving in to paranoia, or if the threat was dead real. The balance was extreme, but still somewhat in the realm of possibility.
I cannot believe they didn’t rebel during the rat scene though. It was all made real in that moment and I thought they would ACT.
I like the ending but it seemed a little vague. I thought they might put a pin on the big guy and we’d see his dilemma of acceptance or rejection.
In a room full of the club members, I doubt he would turn it down, but in the long run would he accept his place among them? Part of me thinks he would have.
I can’t say that I really liked this movie, but I certainly appreciated parts of it. It didn’t strike me as particularly low budget either, which is a good thing.
The first half had some sympathetic characters.
By the second act, there was little to root for or relate to as they were still into the tormenting haze. The third act brought it back again.
Worth watching. It’s streaming free on YouTube.
I enjoyed the ride but doubt I’ll watch it again.
I say it’s a 6 and a stream.
Now to listen to your reviews!
Thanks for a great show
Also, thanks for pointing me to the films, “Incident in a Ghosthouse” (9) and “Haunt “(7)
I really enjoyed both.
I mainly watch movies from the 70’s & 80’s so I appreciate the help in finding the worthwhile modern films.
Hoping you get to the meaningless episode 100!
Thanks for your comments and your great review of Pledge! I’m glad you’re enjoying the show, and to be of service. Hope to hear from you soon!
Folks, I got this one mistaken. This movie did make my honorable mentions, from the same list I posted on this very site! I actually own this movie and watched it again for this episode. I gotta say, I liked it less the second time around. Performances were serviceable, story was simple and short, the effects were fine for being low-budget, but the movie doesn’t show you much as Bill alluded to. It really is a somewhat average movie, but it’s worth seeing at least once. My original rating was 6.5/10 and a rental recommendation. I’m going to stick with that.
I have to warn you about Fantasy Island. Do not spend money on this one. It’s not a horror movie first of all. It’s a straight up thriller. It spends much of it’s runtime on emotional beats it does not earn. The film does not veer too far from the original TV show’s premise, but the execution is not good. The characters are pretty one-dimensional and you get a lot more shooting than I was certainly expecting. There are no horror kills in this movie and the effects look like TV level quality. The different characters fantasies do intersect, but by that time, the movie has already lost your interest. The story itself is particularly weak, focusing on a convoluted revenge plot that simply does not work. It’s not scary. It’s not fun. It’s just meant to be avoided. 2/10 and avoid.
Let’s hope The Boy 2 is better. For some strange reason, I have hope that this will be a decent horror movie. I liked the first one, so who knows?
Thank you Phantom, BillChete & Jay of the Dead! Crush the next one!!
Oh, man. I hoped Fantasy Island would be decent… I guess we’ll still watch it eventually, if only to be able to actually have an opinion on it, lol.
I also hope The Boy 2 is good. I really enjoyed the first one.
Oh yeah, for being PG13 horror, Countdown is a winner, in my opinion. I was impressed walking out of the theater.
Pledge was a pretty good movie overall. I liked the characters and it had some spunk to it and it kept my attention. No plan to rewatch it, saw it about a year ago. One time watch, stream if you can’t decide on what movie to watch. Or if you like the plot of lonely kids wanting to be accepted/go to a party… “then hilarity ensues” 6*
Haven’t seen Countdown. Looking forward to the review. I will only watch it if You guys avg rate it at 6* or higher. By the sounds of it. Will depend on Bills rating haha. It seems Lady and J’s rating is in that 6-7 range.
Wait and see…
I think you will be watching Countdown Sam!
“Throw some rats out, something!…cobwebs!” -Bill
From now on, every time I see rats…and cobwebs in a horror movie, I will think of Bill and say “At least SOMETHING is happening here”. Haha XD