The Seance

I really wanted to love this movie, I'm a big fan of supernatural themed horror so the story appealed to me. The acting from the two main characters is pretty good, some of the supporting cast not so much, but as they are not in the movie too long it doesn't distract from the enjoyment. Some of the things that did distracted from my enjoyment were this.

During some scenes, the background music (mournful cello of course) is often overwhelming and drowns out the dialogue. The female lead is quite an obnoxious character, and it becomes tiresome listening to her constant attempts at debunking, disbelief and general rudeness. And the ending was a bit of a damp squib.

The movie does have its good points though. The dialogue between the two leads in mostly snappy and they have some good chemistry. The story is interesting, if not overly original, or perfectly executed, but I'm guessing from some of the "special effects" it was not made with a blockbuster budget. Overall I did enjoy it, and it made me wanting to keep watching to the end. And I do like the phrase "Portable Poltergeist Panic Room" for its alliteration.

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased "The Seance" but I really liked this movie.

Good story line, well acted, good rapport and interesting dialogue between Nate and Andy. Impressive visual effects.

Overall, very well done.

For fans of movies "most like Hitchcock" who like suspense minus the blood and gore, check out this movie. Did I mention it has an unexpected surprise ending?

I am not a writer by any means and am proudly left-brained, but the guy who did this is a natural for crafting dialogue. Any horror fan knows it's nearly impossible to have a completely unique idea within the genre, so other elements are essential to keeping your interest, and the conversation between the two heroes is witty, fleshed out, and most importantly, realistic (except one part). Even the science behind the happenings sounds reasonable enough to a layman like me. While you will likely get annoyed with the constant naysaying from the gal, it's obviously necessary to the plot so you just have to accept that. The horror elements in particular are REALLY good at points as you build emotional connections with the reason for everything as opposed to the norm of "me demon, me bad." When a person is going towards an area they probably shouldn't, you really feel it and the eerie elements are well executed, especially with the main villain who looks like something to truly fear.

That being said, once the side character supernaturals are revealed, you can sense the low budget nature of it all and it would have served the film better to just NOT show anything, or keep it as out of focus shots, as the "Shakespeare in the Park" vibes you get from the spirits dampers things. Another small offset is when the heroes are immediately resigned to doom and just start joking about it all. While the lighthearted banter is the solid backbone of the story, it needed to keep the stakes high at the appropriate moment.

All in all though the acting was spot on, the dialogue beguiles you, and the horror elements will meet 100% of your daily-recommended allowance. I really hope the writer continues in this field, but to be honest he would knock a rom-com out of the ballpark...just don't cast Jimmy Fallon for that one!

Side note: It's really aggravating there was a teen horror flick with a similar name released in the same year, making this nearly impossible to find via search engine. I hope this gets entered into some festivals and gains noteriety.

(I rate movies based on expectations. You can't put Sharknado on the same scale as Jaws.)

I watched this over the holidays and was drawn in at the beginning with the main séance which was done rather well. The two main characters had good dialog back and forth some of which was serious and some was on the lighter funnier side. I did find that there was a little more banter about the same hoax theory over and over which seemed to make one want to stop following until the next suspenseful scene happened but it was still good banter. I think that a little bit of editing could make the difference in how I felt trying to stay focused on the suspenseful aspect of the film. The ending was a little strange but maybe I just need to watch it again to make sure I was following along correctly and didn't miss something along the way which I probably did. So if you're looking for blood and guts horror this is not the film, but if you're looking for a good suspenseful story then here you go. Take 80 minutes out of you're day and let your mind take you back to the days when you and your friends would try and spook each other by playing tricks or maybe some of you weren't playing tricks.

Well written and acted, with nice sets and sound design. The special effects aren't great, but the chemistry between the actors is. The dialogue is engaging but does get a little too cutesy sometimes, hence the 7. Not scary, but dark, atmospheric, nicely crafted and well worth a watch IMO.