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Movies / On DVD / The Covenant
The Covenant

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The Covenant (2006)

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Reviews Counted:69

Fresh:2

Rotten:67

Average Rating:2.8/10

Consensus: The Covenant plays out like a teen soap opera, full of pretty faces, wooden acting, laughable dialogue, and little suspense.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity and language

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Sep 8, 2006 Wide

Box Office: $23,292,105

Synopsis: Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2, DEEP BLUE SEA) directs this supernatural thriller about descendants of powerful New England families. The sons of Ipswich are legendary at Spenser Academy, the local... Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2, DEEP BLUE SEA) directs this supernatural thriller about descendants of powerful New England families. The sons of Ipswich are legendary at Spenser Academy, the local boarding school. Handsome and popular, these four teenage friends can trace their roots to the founding families of the Ipswich Colony, settled in the late 1600s. For years these Massachusetts families have harbored the secret that they possess supernatural powers. Their descendants--Caleb (Steven Strait), Reid (Toby Hemingway), Tyler (Chace Crawford), and Pogue (Taylor Kitsch)--have inherited magical powers that first manifested themselves when the boys turned 13 years old. In a nutshell, they can do anything. As they approach their 18th birthdays, they are preparing to "ascend," which means their powers will grow stronger. The downside? The magic is seductive and addictive, and causes premature aging with each use. Ringleader Caleb tries to keep his friends from using magic recklessly, but as the school year begins, strange events and a strong gut instinct convince Caleb that someone is using very powerful magic. Meanwhile, Caleb is exploring his newfound affection for transfer student Sarah (Laura Ramsey). To Caleb's dismay, Sarah becomes a pawn in a power struggle with a descendant of the fifth founding family of Ipswich, a line thought to be lost during Salem's witch trials. Is Caleb strong enough to maintain his power and keep his family and friends safe, or will he yield to this new threat and sacrifice himself? The film draws interesting parallels between the luring, addictive power of magic and the addictions real teenagers face. The sufficiently creepy setting echoes New England and sets the stage for supernatural phenomena. THE COVENANT also stars Sebastian Stan as Chase Collins, a wealthy newcomer to Spenser, and Jessica Lucas as Kate, Sarah's roommate and Pogue's girlfriend. [More]

Starring: Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford

Starring: Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Jessica Lucas, Laura Ramsey

Director: Renny Harlin

Director: Renny Harlin
Screenwriter: J.S. Cardone
Producer: Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Andre Lamal
Composer: Tomandandy

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Release:

Sep 2, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • To the students of the Spenser Academy, the Sons of Ipswich are the baddest boys on campus. But that's not all they share. The four friends also share a 300-year-old secret: they're warlocks, the teenage descendants of a 17th-century coven of witches. So when the long-banished fifth son suddenly appears and threatens to kill their loved ones, they realize they must face their enemy in order to prevent him from stealing their powers and shattering the covenant forever.
  • Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for The Covenant

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    Cleverly takes the lure of illegal drugs and links it to super powers.

    Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 26 Comments
    09/08/06
    Victoria Alexander
    Victoria Alexander
    FilmsInReview.com

    Utterly stupid and full of lazy plotting and lazier dialogue, this is just idiotic enough to entertain on nights when you want to give your brain a rest.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 2 Comments
    12/30/06
    Helen OHara
    Helen OHara
    Empire Magazine

    I think the men were cast more for their abs than their acting.

    Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment 1 Comment
    10/28/06
    Beth Accomando
    Beth Accomando
    KPBS.org

    Daft but nonetheless enjoyable supernatural thriller, featuring some hilariously bad dialogue, impressive special effects and some genuinely creepy scenes.

    Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment 1 Comment
    12/30/06
    Matthew Turner
    Matthew Turner
    ViewLondon

    Moviegoers need to band together for a covenant -- stop buying tickets to Renny Harlin movies.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment 1 Comment
    09/08/06
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    This sort of thing might work as a desperation rental -- like if you've been injected with poison and must keep watching incredibly lame movies or die ...

    Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
    09/10/06
    Alex Markerson
    Alex Markerson
    E! Online

    There are worse things for a horror-thriller about supernatural high-schoolers to not be. Like not scary. Or not thrilling. Or not as entertaining as an episode of Charmed.

    Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
    09/30/06
    Amelie Gillette
    Amelie Gillette
    AV Club

    ... this falls well short of the Buffy-level resonances at which [Harlin] was presumably aiming.

    Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
    01/27/07
    Andrew Pulver
    Andrew Pulver
    Guardian [UK]

    ... one hopes, perhaps naively, that there’d be some kind of message amid the special effects and nubile bodies.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    09/10/06
    Annlee Ellingson
    Annlee Ellingson
    Boxoffice Magazine

    doesn't move in any direction and instead wanders without much aim at all

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    09/19/06
    Blake French
    Blake French
    Filmcritic.com

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
    11/20/08
    Brian Marder
    Brian Marder
    Hollywood.com

    Essentially, Covenant is about young, wet, 'CW' ready underwear models running around hurling 'magical' gelatin blobs at each other while they compete for screen time with their own abs.

    Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
    09/08/06
    Brian Orndorf
    Brian Orndorf
    FilmJerk.com

    ... a diluted remix of Lost Boys.

    Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
    09/08/06
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press

    All that's truly scary about The Covenant are the words that appear before the title: 'A Renny Harlin Film.'

    Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
    09/10/06
    Christy Lemire
    Christy Lemire
    Associated Press
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Director Renny Harlin ("The Long Kiss Goodnight") phones in this thoughtless teen horror flick from screenwriter J.S. Cardone ("The Forsaken").

    Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
    04/20/09
    Cole Smithey
    Cole Smithey
    ColeSmithey.com

    Movies like this are why we have eyelids.

    Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
    09/13/06
    Colin Covert
    Colin Covert
    Minneapolis Star Tribune

    More nonsensical than scary, THE COVENANT conjures a cautionary tale for prep school pretties.

    Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
    10/01/06
    Cynthia Fuchs
    Cynthia Fuchs
    Common Sense Media

    The Covenant virtually resets the bar for mediocrity in horror thrillers.

    Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
    09/08/06
    D. Scott Apel
    D. Scott Apel
    Reel.com

    The Covenant looks less like a movie and more like an extended boy band video -- and with about the same amount of depth.

    Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
    01/02/07
    David Edwards
    David Edwards
    Daily Mirror [UK]

    The Covenant has excellent special effects (spiders and specters, oh my!), but it is strikingly lacking in suspense.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
    09/10/06
    David Hiltbrand
    David Hiltbrand
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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