Barnes & Noble

More than 300 years after five families enter into a covenant of silence to escape witch hunts, thus preserving both the secret of their magic powers and their respective bloodlines, a quartet of their young male descendents have enrolled at the elite Spenser Academy. Laconic Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) is the unofficial leader of this particular brat pack, which includes long-haired motorcyclist Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), laid-back Tyler (Chace Crawford), and constant troublemaker Reid (Toby Hemingway), who can't resist working his magic at inopportune moments. Things heat up when Caleb takes a fancy to transfer student Sarah (Laura Ramsey) and befriends a mysterious newcomer named Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan). From that point on The Covenant abounds in disturbing visions, suspicious accidents, and an alarming rise in the student population's death rate. The screenplay, while chock-full of clichéd and corny dialogue, nonetheless offers some surprisingly effective shock sequences and helps establish an oppressively malevolent mood that's sustained by conscientious trouping from key principals Strait and Stan. Director Renny Harlin, an old hand at this sort of material, deploys special effects parsimoniously until the climatic duel sequence, which echoes such films as The Matrix in its complexity and intensity. Pierre Gill's camerawork creates appropriately atmospheric images, and Tomandandy's pulse-pounding music accentuates the on-screen action perfectly. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

An ancient secret threatens to unleash the powers of darkness on a group of modern prep school students when the sole survivor of a cursed bloodline returns to lay claim to the powers denied to him centuries ago in a supernatural teen thriller from director Renny Harlin and screenwriter J.S. Cardone. The story begins in 1692, when five families from the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts formed a covenant of silence that would forever protect their remarkable powers. One family went too far, though, and as a result of their transgression they were forever banished from the land. Flash forward to the new millennium and the four Sons of Ipswich are now the student elite at the prestigious Spenser Academy. Bound by their sacred ancestry and sworn to silence, these four teens share a secret so remarkable that it has served to protect their families for hundreds of years. The past has a way of coming back when you least expect it though, and when the fifth Son of Ipswich returns seeking to harness the powers denied him in the past, the battle is on to ensure the safety of The Covenant and lay the one descendent who threatens to reveal their secret to rest once and for all. Jason Buchanan

Product Details

• UPC: 043396269170
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Alternate Wide Screen (1.78:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English, Español
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:37:00
• Sales Rank: 41,044