The Appearing

There's something to be said about how bad a film is, when the first ten minutes pass and you're wondering more about how it got made than the plot itself.

The acting is bizarre. It reminds me of drama classes in high school, where a prompt to "look happy" means smiling maniacally whilst staring at a single point in the distance like a crazy person. Or the instruction to be the "stoner chick" ends up like the only knowledge the actress has of drugs is a "Just Say No!" education commercial.

An early scene sets the tone. A curious girl and some guy (...boyfriend? I honestly have no idea) wander into an abandoned, haunted house. The script has the girl stating at least 5 times how weird the place is, even though it actually doesn't resemble anything other than an old house with cobwebs. Seriously, it's not even dark in there.

Then we're introduced to a couple who have moved to the area following a "tragic event". Fair enough, but when we see the wife in the bathroom looking upset, music suddenly roars into life, completely obliterating the mood. Is it background music? Is it a CD the wife put on? Where the hell did it come from? And WHY IS IT SO LOUD?!

Still, I'm only fourteen minutes in.

The next scene shows the wife making breakfast and the husband doing his best not to act in any kind of realistic way, by stating that he can't share breakfast as he's late for work, but then weirdly taking absolutely ages to drink a glass of OJ and take two bites of toast. Sad wife (I think, she's got that weird look in her eyes again - and not because of her acting) looks at a photo of her daughter (ah, so that's the tragic event) and then runs out of the house, and then just appears in the middle of a country road with photo in hand. But this isn't lost time, or a fugue state. She's just...walking there.

I've got another hour and a quarter of this. Can't wait.

While there are far better and worse possession movies out there, then "The Appearing" really didn't bring anything new to the genre, nor did it manage to differentiate itself from many other movies in the genre.

The storyline was easy to follow, perhaps a bit too simple at times, but it was weighed down by the fact that the movie never really got up into gear and left its mediocre pace in its wake.

The acting in the movie was wooden at best, and there weren't really any particular performances that stood out in any way. There was an shadow cast over the entire movie, from what appeared to be a fact that people weren't really putting their souls and wholeheartedly efforts into this movie.

The effects were actually adequate, as were the storyline of the movie. Well, don't go and expect multi-million dollar effects here though, but the effects were used to good extend and did their jobs well enough.

If it was deliberate that there were absolutely no chemistry between Rachel (played by Emily Brooks) and Michael (played by Will Wallace), then director Daric Gates did a good job, because there were absolutely no on-screen chemistry between these two at all. It does put a notion into the mind though; was it because the characters were growing apart and becoming estranged because of the death of their daughter, or if it was because of the lack of talent of the actors, well...

For a horror / thriller movie, then "The Appearing" was frightfully devoid of anything even remotely scary or shocking.

Despite the intriguing title, THE APPEARING is nothing more than a cheap and lousy horror movie that screams derivative at every step. It starts out as a tragedy-from-the-past type movie, and before the end has turned into your usual demonic possession flick. At no point is it original or indeed valid as a decent horror film.

The characters are dull beyond with Will Wallace's lead being particularly stultifying. Former Superman actor Dean Cain shows up in support, while poor old Don Swayze - the late Patrick's brother - reminds us that he's nothing like his more famous sibling. Despite attempts by the filmmakers, the incidents portrayed in the film are rather tame, and the familiarity of the whole thing makes it tough to keep your attention on it.

Omg do not waste your time watching this, I fell asleep by the end of the film, thinking this is never going to end. Movie is slow, Boring, no thrill, hardly any real suspense, and confuses a viewer more than anything else. The acting wasn't good, worse possession movie ever. The cinematography is nothing special to talk about. Its a lousy job from, Direction to Screenplay to even Background music. Being a horror fan i don't miss out on any horror movies. Don't be fooled by the IMDb rating. This movie IMO deserves not more than 2/10/. Sorry but i am a harsh judge of horror movies, because I Love horror. How did this movie ever get a 5.1 rating here, is beyond my comprehension. This is one movie horror fans can definitely do without.

Your usual overused plot/bad acting/weak effects, second hand movie. Maybe the plot was smarter than normal, but those bad picked actors, horrible lines and the lookalike "The rite" ending managed to destroy it completely.

So here you have it, one hour and 30 minutes that felt like a small infinity because they threw more twist than you find in an Asian horror, they just wouldn't stop. Indeed maybe the creators of "The appearing" wanted to make something to stand above the rest of B horrors, but failed to. They got so lost in their own work, something I see happening more and more lately. The problem lays either in that extremely cheap camera work or a plot pulled out to its extremes!

So, either try "The exorcist", "The rite" or "The possession" just, sadly, not this one. Won't work even for a late night movie. It's bad...

Cheers!!