The Presence

This is an odd one. There's some good acting and beautifully haunting locations on display. There's a creepy apparition type (Shane West), and a nice, slow-burning story being told, featuring some appealing characters. Yet for some reason director Tom Provost doesn't seem to want to make the most of the more dramatic moments.

An accident involving a rock fall is adequately staged, and yet contains no threat whatsoever. The music (provided by Jay Duerr among others) is determined to undermine such scenes. Often the incidentals are curiously jaunty when they should contain some menace.

Most characters remain unnamed; West provides a very solid 'ghost' - clean cut, hair gelled, looks like he might work out. Only a grey pallor indicates any other-worldliness. For a while, the most alarming things are the woman's (Mira Sorvino) mood swings.

I applaud Provost's desire to do something different but wish that more could have been made of the creepier moments. My score is 6 out of 10.

Woman with personal issues goes to a remote place in the woods somewhere to spend some time alone in the cabin she spent her summers as a child. What she doesn't know is that there is some guy (which we the audience can see) who looks like something between a department store mannequin and crew member of the starship Enterprise haunting the place. He does this by standing and staring or sitting and staring. Maybe about 20 minutes in, or so, he swivels an eyeball to the side. Then about 40 minutes in he becomes less like a mannequin and more like crew member of the Enterprise looking for a way to get back to his ship.

I was intrigued when the movie started and I saw the ghost sitting or standing staring. --Right off the bat; just like that; no preamble; as is usually NOT the case with most ghost stories. "Hmm.....this is a different approach", I say's to myself, "Let's see where it goes". I believe I already told you where it went for 40 minutes. The only thing of note in that time is that the woman's boyfriend shows up a little over 20 minutes in or so. Apparently this woman has issues with trusting men due to the sad examples in her life, her grandfather and father. Anyway, the guy shows up, says he hopes he's not intruding, or something. Then some more stuff that was apparently the right thing and that led to a little huggy-huggy and a little kissy-kissy.

After the 40 minutes --hell way before that-- I began to feel this movie wasn't going to be scary. Why do most people love ghost stories? --Because they want to be spooked, of course! Well you will not be scared by this. If you want to be scared you're better off waiting 'till tax time. This movie is a "relationship" and "personal issues" movie hiding in..er..ghostliness. The ghost business was just a backdrop for it. All it did was make a RELATIONSHIP and PERSONAL ISSUES movie "a little unusual". That's it. Now if you don't mind your ghosts being non-scary and being just a background and vehicle for people sorting out their domestic problems, then this is for you. Just add 3 stars to the 3 I'm giving this thing and run out and go see it. However if you want your ghost to freak you out --like I do, then add 0 to my 3 and go do something else. Love, Boloxxxi.

I watched this movie yesterday and was very disappointed. It is definitely not a horror movie, so don't waste your time if your looking for that. Somewhat a thriller, but definitely a drama.

It started out very strange...and boring. I made myself sit and wait to see if it got any better. The first 5 minutes was a waste of time. Still shots of the inside of the house...each room...and they lasted for eternity. It finally found it's way into a "movie". Yes, the acting is great as well as the scenery. I loved the old cabin. It had it's potential to be a very good, scary movie, but it simply lacked that.

There were so many empty holes at several intervals of the movie. The storyline didn't share what was fully going on. No explanation of certain events.

I did watch the entire movie but I could have turned it off at any point as I knew I wasn't going to miss much. If you have nothing else to watch, it's watchable. But if you have an option for another to watch, do so. I would skip this one.

I loved the movie so much, I watched it a second time. It is soooo beautifully shot, and it really has something for everyone. It's scary, mysterious, thought-provoking, inspiring, unique, and even romantic, but not conventionally. People seem to get into discussions afterwords, and there is nothing worse than a movie you have nothing to say about after seeing.

I have also since met the Director, and he is such a cool, nice, super smart guy. Someone to watch for sure. I will surely be telling everyone to go see it as soon as it hits theaters. A sleeper hit, I suspect.

I also can NOT watch horror movies, I get waaay too scared. This was scary, but I was still somehow able to watch it--maybe because the point of the movie is not to just scare people, it just happens to be really scary (at least to me) in parts. The scary parts had more going on than just "this movie is just supposed to scare the crap out of you" kinda stuff. It has real characters that you care about or are drawn to, complex relationships, and mysteries to uncover. And the way it is shot and the lighting and environment are like old world paintings, but in the present. Gorgeous.

That feeling on the back of your neck when you're in the house utterly alone, and it's completely silent

except for

that !

That's how this movie builds on you. It doesn't use gobs of red Karo syrup, and no one flies backward on a wire in front of a green screen. It instead plays on your childhood fears when real things go bump.

The house in which the story unfolds is a character unto itself - beautiful and creepy and very well photographed throughout.

A fun and refreshing ghost story, give it a tumble.