|
Wednesday, 18 May 2005 |
  Disembodied voices and shapes appearing suddenly on a static filled television screen can make for some decent horror. Take Poltergeist as an example of where it can be used as an effective technique for creating fear. A major reason it worked in that movie is because it was backed up by a decent story which was carried through to a satisfying conclusion. Using only the television and very little else can create some suspense, but without more ideas to back it up, the result is rather disappointing. That is the case with White Noise.
Michael Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, a man searching for his recently deceased wife through Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) where voices and images of the dead come through on video and audio tape. He has stumbled onto this phenomena through a mysterious man who begins to follow him in the days following his wife's death. At first sceptical, Jonathan becomes increasingly obsessed with what he sees and hears on the man's recordings. He builds an elaborate computer video system in his home which allows him to analyze the many supernatural recordings he suddenly acquires.
A large problem with the story comes from the fact that Jonathan seems to simply play back a blank VHS tape and people and voices suddenly appear. As he does this, various people die or are reported missing and he realizes they are contacting him in his recordings. Soon he soon realizes he is seeing them before they are actually dead and he takes it upon himself to save them. There is a problem, however. Not everyone who is contacting him is entirely good.
The story has some potential, but it ends up as just another interesting idea which isn't taken advantage of. Instead, we get an all to common case of trying to scramble to wrap up the movie rather then come up with a satisfying conclusion. There is some decent atmosphere, but too much of the fear is merely sound cues which have no more bearing on the story than to make the audience jump. Worst of all, the ending is downright insulting to everyone's intelligence. Still, those who thought the completely mediocre movie Saw was a work of art may find something to enjoy in White Noise.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Chandra West, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice, Sarah Strange, Nicholas Elia, Mike Dopud.
Director: Geoffrey Sax
Studio: Universal Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 101 mins
Release: 2005
Reviewer: John Rice
|
Movie Article List 
