A Presença

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.

The first minutes (quite a lot of minutes actually, though I did not count) are completely without any dialog. This seems to work as a silent movie as well. Of course later on, we'll get dialog and we'll get the story going. It is quite original in its theme and what it tries to do. I'd even say it achieves that goal.

Sorvino plays it as good as it gets, but the mentioned pace might feel and lead people into disliking the movie. I wasn't sure at first either. But it's nice seeing something trying to go another route. The cinematography is really good and the sound design fits really good too. We may have some action towards the end, that might feel a bit too much, but it's still true to the nature of the movie.

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.

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.

It is one of films who creates, scene by scene , ambiguous or different feelings . The silent beginning is great and you hope be silent whole film. Mira Sorvino does a good job but the too bizarre make up for poor Shane West- reduced at real presence - is not so inspired option. And the clash between woman and her boyfriend, the mystical final, the man in black in the bout and the black man as universal answer are too unconvincing. Short, noble intentions, beautiful beginning, poor Shane West and Justin Kirk , missing story , admirable cinematography and the desire to give a sort of spiritual or mystic film. But it fails.