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Released by: Take 2 Releasing
Released on: 9/13/2011
Director: Michael Stokes
Cast: Teri Polo, David Rees Snell, Michael Ironside, Ken Howard
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
The Shaw family moves into an apartment at The Beacon, after losing their young son (presumed to have drowned). Bryn (Teri Polo, Meet the Parents and all those other God damned “Focker†movies) blames herself for his death/ disappearance and has tried to commit suicide at least once. Her husband Paul (David Rees Snell, television's The Shield) is a college professor whom holds a bit of resentment toward Bryn, but is trying to make things work for them. Bryn immediately starts to see shadowy glimpses of a little boy, and it is revealed the boy died in the elevator shaft. She wants to help the boy move on from his Earthly shackles, perhaps helping her deal with her own guilt for her son's demise. And of course no one believes she really saw anything.
Meanwhile, Paul is dealing with his attraction to the temptress in the building, former actor and internet BDSM personality Vanessa Carver (Elaine Hendrix). He loves his wife, but this woman is a knockout and isn't falling apart at the seams like Bryn. Also in the mix of things is Bryn's sister Christina (Marnette Patterson), who's found a new beau hunk living at The Beacon, Will (Nick Sowell), and she spends a lot of time there. And no, their flirting really doesn't have much to do with anything. The father of the boy starts to show up and the boy seems to be warning Bryn that someone bad is coming, and just what that is won't be revealed until the last ten or so minutes of the story.
So those are the elements of the film: a grieving mother, a cheating husband, a ghost boy, and some insignificant characters. The movie pokes along at a snail's pace, delivering a couple of creepy moments but never enough to really create some decent scares. The movie seems more focused on the relationship between the Shaw's and the effect their long-gone son has had on their marriage, while the ghost stuff appears to be used as more of a vehicle to put further stress on them. It isn't until the end of the movie that the ghosts really come into play, and by then its too late. It took way too much time to get to the point of anything interesting happening and even when it finally does happen it's kind of corny. The ghost activity is more zombie-like than spooky, and even with the expected twist ending, the whole things just falls flat.
Michael Ironside shows up as a cop, as does Ken Howard, but neither one can save the movie from what it is…boring. The acting leads do a good job with their roles and rest of the acting is pretty good. The film looks nice, and first-time director Stokes seemingly surrounded himself with a capable production staff, but the pacing stinks and the movie is 20 minutes too long for the story its trying to tell. A tightened up running time may have brought this one up from “don't bother†to “maybe rentâ€.
Video/Audio/Extras:
A nice image can be seen here, with rich colors, deep blacks, and some interesting camera work (although nothing overly clever). The detail is there and there's some nice film grain. The aspect is 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and it delivers an overall-pleasing picture. Three audio options are available: 5.1 DTS, 5.1 Dolby, and 2.0. The DTS track sounds full and has a nice balance, with some rear speaker activity for the scare sections, and some subwoofer action during certain scenes comes through nicely. But this one is pretty heavy on the yapping, and most of the sound comes from the front.
The only real extra is a commentary track from the director and the producer. They keep the conversation interesting enough, talking about each scene and where they were, etc. It's a decent track for those who like commentaries, but if the movie didn't do it for you, why would you bother with the commentary? There's also a trailer for the feature and a few trailers for other releases from the label, which also play when the disc is inserted into the player. And for some reason there is a scan box on the front. Scan it with your phone and learn the true story of the haunted hotel where the movie was shot. And if you don't have a phone that can scan, then up yours. You don't get to learn the true story.
The Final Word:
This one had potential to be creepy, but the execution is such that it doesn't deliver much for chills and it simply takes too long for anything to happen. By the end you might find yourself watching simply to finish what you started, rather than to see how the movie pans out.
