PLEDGE is a typical teen horror flick which involves a group of people being attacked and tortured by the usual sinister group of homicidal figures. This one has a good set-up, in that it shines a light on the barbaric hazing rituals present around the world in both educational institutes and the military. The story suffers from a routine lack of characterisation although the actors are certainly hard-working and give it their best. There's some gross-out stuff early on along with some good foreboding, but then this turns into torture-porn partway through and ends in an uninteresting and basic climax. It could have been better.

A group of outcast freshmen gets duped into pledging an outlying fraternity by young beautiful girls. We know from the opening spoiler it is a setup and they will have to fight for their lives...which they do...all inside the house.

Not much on plot. Many scenes needed work like a bunch of guys who has themselves locked in a bathroom. However, in spite of the light plot, the film was high on intensity and squirmish.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

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.