Review of White Noise (2005) by Amir G — 11 Sep 2008

White Noise.

Drama (Horror).

2005.

Rated: PG-13.

Running Time: 101 minutes.

Starring: Michael Keaton.

Directed By: Geoffrey Sax.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10.

Outline.

After losing his wife a man seeks the help of a paranormal expert but what starts off as a miracle ends up in more then he can handle.

Review.

This movie had vast potential as the premise is great but the payoff is not remotely worth it. White Noise centers around a phenomenon known as EVP. It stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon and it allows a person to hear voices of the deceased. Jonathon Rivers played by Michael Keaton has recently lost his wife and in the confusion of it all is approached by a paranormal expert claiming to have spoken with his dead wife. At first skeptical he decides to give it a chance and is truly amazed with the phenomenon. He becomes obsessed with it and discovers that there is more to this then just hearing voices. The films creepy start is a solid and the build up is good with some weird time stopping phenomenon and random frights. As the film progresses however you realize that the mystery is not that eventful and the horror truly not that frightening. It seems that when dabbling with this art the paranormal expert has upset the balance of things and is set upon by an unknown horror that neither invokes fear or suspense. The horror is a blurry outline of three men that show up in random intervals. The cartoon drawn visage and bodies are laughable and the sheer number of times you see then takes all fear away from them. The films middle is a tiresome affair of trying to figure out what his dead wife is saying to him and trust me you wish she just told him. Other then the random expected fright this film never really seems to go anywhere. Michael Keaton does an average job in driving the film but to what purpose. He has no support from the writers and it clearly shows as the film progresses. The three blurry men kill at random and Jonathon Rivers goes from caring husband to crusading creep as he runs around town trying to save people. The film just gets lost along the way. It goes from dead people to giving their final say to crazy storyline where the people might be still alive somehow. Sometimes films just make you wonder at what they were thinking. Talking to dead people should be the creepiest thing this side of Star Jones in a bikini and yet nothing comes from this storyline. The ghosts are just there and add nothing to the film. The ending is what really takes the cake as the writers have to throw in a crazy twist just for the sake of having it. Not only is the ending absurd the close up of the three bad men shows us that computer graphics do not always make films better. The close up of their faces had me literally laughing instead of terrified. Keeping the three bad men out of the film and using more creepy voices or noises would have served this movie much better. You know the movie is headed for mediocrity when the scariest thing about it is Michael Keaton himself. I cannot recommend this film as the premise is good but the execution of it is not.

T Factor + Like movies where mystery and death are involved then this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor â?? Like horrifically scary bad guys then this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: They, or An American Haunting.