[A] muddled and most unmagical offering.
The Covenant (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:0
Rotten:17
Average Rating:2.9/10
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
Reviews for The Covenant
This is cobbled-together teenybopper tripe about feuding male witches with nothing to offer but classic bad dialogue.
No one has bothered to develop a coherent story or remotely likable characters to sustain the CGI effects, ear-splitting music, and hyperactive editing.
... a supernatural teen drama that wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to pay good money to see it.
[An] eardrum-punishing, uninspired composite of X-Men and the Harry Potter series ...
The Covenant has excellent special effects (spiders and specters, oh my!), but it is strikingly lacking in suspense.
... if this mild teen thriller were a cigarette, it would be a Salem light.
The Covenant is a terrible movie, a bucket of water on the teen-witch genre.
All that's truly scary about The Covenant are the words that appear before the title: 'A Renny Harlin Film.'
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