The Pale Man (2017) User Reviews

Nice atmosphere and camerawork but no story

[omendata · 4/10 · 27 May 2018]

That about sums this little film up.

Started really well , nice camera action and a good beginning; the director has created a sinister atmosphere reminiscent of Children Of The Corn and the music was spot on but the film just dragged on as there was very little story and what it was is just a very basic murder mystery that could have been an episode of Murder She Wrote. I was half waiting for Jessica Fletcher to turn up to join all the other old ladies in the film.

The girl who plays the boarding house receptionist was actually the most interesting character in the whole film and yet she was not part of the plot which is a missed opporchancity!

Once again another film that had promise but failed to deliver which seems to be the absolute norm now...sadly...

Where to even begin?

[hcampbell-70473 · 3/10 · 30 May 2018]

With a budget so low the "ghost" effects are simply an actor with a lot of makeup to make him "pale", there's not really anywhere to go with a film. Add in some flat performances, some way over the top performances, some dumb as dirt decision making by the protagonist and dialogue that Tommy Wiiseau would find laughable and you have waste of an evening.

So naiv

[lupcop · 3/10 · 25 May 2018]

She plays without emotions, no body languages. Like a robot. And the story is not new. Hom many times we have seen this: car is brocken somewhere....she came in a stagen small town..nobody is friendly except the guy wh is saviour, actually everybody elese is wired....she got ill and suddenly she got touched by an angel..and no more ill. Normally I give always more than 7/10, here only 3/10.

Amateurish and just plain bad

[rhefner2002 · 2/10 · 4 November 2022]

I try to go easy on low budget indie films. Some are really good, better than the usual big Hollywood studio stuff.

Not this one. The protagonist, Taylor Bostwick, is like the worst actor in a high school play. She's incapable of delivering lines with any conviction or nuance. She's cardboard faced and just generally vacuous. This is truly one of the worst lead performances I've ever seen. The supporting actors don't fare much better.

As to the script, she's on the phone to her shrink and tells him that she's stranded in some nowhere town. She asks him to phone in a scrip to the pharmacy and then hangs up. She hasn't told him the name of the town or the number of the pharmacy. But a couple of scenes later, she's taking the pills. Writing this bad is inexcusable.

The time period of the story is not even clearly established. It appears to be early 1960's, but there are all kinds of inconsistencies. Bostwick's car is an early 1960's Ford Falcon, but when she's sitting behind the wheel, the mechanic tells her to "pop the hood." In the early 60's, cars didn't have inside hood releases. A pay phone in a later scene says "50 cents." Phone calls were a dime back then.

As to the story, it involves a missing woman, and the "mystery" is so inane that you'll be rolling your eyes.

I watched this with a kind of horrified fascination. Movies this bad should be taught in film schools as examples of what not to do.

A Pale Movie

[whoami-1328 · 1/10 · 14 April 2019]

The movie is based on a short story and hence all the nonsense in the movie of the girl coughing and splitting blood all the time and other unwanted scenes. It is just a typical murder ghost story concoction executed by an amateur director who is still a work-in-progress. It is kind of funny in parts. Avoid this movie and watch some other movie worth your time and intelligence.

Really scary

[cheddar-324-87808 · 6/10 · 28 March 2021]

I found the movie, although obviously low budget quite scary and therefore I think it should be classified as horror, rather than thriller, in my humble opinion! As I am from the generation of the first Halloween movie I find the idea of an "actual person" used to portray the antagonist or whoever he may turn out to be (rather than an indication of how low budget this movie is as one critic suggested) quite refreshing and super scary! Yes, there are several flaws in the storyline ( the girl's mysterious symptoms and illness, which are never explained, the miraculous cure in the end, the inexplicable behaviour of the bar goons going on the "beating up" rampage because they're obviously not involved in any cover-up, Violet's death) and the over the top aggressive acting of some characters, especially the sheriff, oh dear, he should get a razzie, whoever played him! His son, whoever the actor is should be a close second, does not make a horrible movie though! I like a good old fashioned murder mystery even with a ghost involved. The inconsistent blending of timelines (note the older car models, the fact that no one has a cell phone and phone conversations are made and received via rotary phones, etc., yet the characters clothing suggest a contemporary timeline)may be a metaphor the director tried to convey? Who knows, all in all, I quite enjoyed the movie!

Being Human is Important

[raquelzepeda · 6/10 · 18 January 2022]

While most mystery buffs probably figured out what had happened to the missing wife and mother in ten minutes, it was a good story.

It was a bit slow for me but I did enjoy the acting. All of the characters had little quirks, making them so very human.

Yes, it was a low budget film, but it worked anyway. I think the happy ending is important. We all need a little bit of hope, especially now.