User reviews

I liked a lot of "The Seance," but think it made a big miscalculation that hurt my connection to the film.

"The Seance" begins with Nate (Michael Minto" holding a séance. It's a good one -- lots of stuff happens, a family member of one the attendees appears to manifest himself. However, it turns out that one of the attendees is Andy (Miranda Skerman), who hosts a You Tube series where she debunks mediums, psychics, and the like. After all the other attendees leave, Andy sticks around and tries to figure out how Nate did everything, and get him to admit he's a fraud. But does he have a connection to the spirit world? Or is he perpetrating an elaborate hoax on not just his attendees, but Andy herself? These are the questions that will be explored over the course of the evening...

For a low budget film, it's a wonder. Great lighting, clear sound, and solid acting all around. Word of warning, there is a lot of talking and dialog. A lot. For the most part, though, I found it interesting and engaging, and I like that it plays its hand pretty close to the vest. At some point in the movie, what is going on appears to be clear but even so, there are little hints that maybe it's not what we think it is. I also like that we actually GET an answer to what's going on.

Where I think the movie makes a huge mistake is that when it gets to the most suspenseful part of the movie, what it's been building to, the tone of the movie all of a sudden shifts. The characters start making jokes and there is general goofiness. And it was jarring -- I'm thinking, "Hey, when did this become a comedy? Or was it always a comedy and nothing was funny until now?" Think The Three Stooges showing up all of a sudden during the climax of "Silence of the Lambs." So the suspense that was so carefully built was replaced with... goofiness. A very, very odd creative decision.

And what's even more confusing is that in the coda, it turns back to deadly serious at the end. If they had kept a consistent tone throughout the movie, it would have been more successful.

So I liked enough of it to mildly recommend it, but still...

THE SÉANCE is a Gravitas Ventures production. And all that entails.

To ME, it entails two things. Firstly, as the Gravitas Ventures logo slithers off screen, I look for the ridges and troughs of the slug slime it leaves behind and secondly, I have to prepare myself to view a movie that is unconscionably execrable.

So imagine how shocked I was, shocked I say, when THE SÉANCE actually DIDN'T make me reflexively void my bowels. It was, and I gag as I say this, actually... kind of... good? Which in this case means not terrible.

Do remember that it was, after all, a Gravitas Ventures picture, and even though I actually enjoyed it, all of the boilerplate contract terms and conditions of a Gravitas Ventures abomination still apply. That is, bargain-basement production values, color balancing that makes you want to bathe, sound design where the soundtrack drowns out the dialogue, a single location set for the entire picture, and so on. Yep, it's all there.

And yet, though it astonishes me to admit it, the story was somewhat interesting and the acting didn't trigger retching. The two principles who were the only people on screen about 80% of the time, were actually, dare I say it, pretty good. The male lead even managed to be a little charming. He might go on to perform in real movies someday.

THE SÉANCE did go on one scene too long and ended with a clunk, but still, I actually would call it worth watching.

I'm viewing the whole experience as a Christmas miracle. But be careful, Gravitas Ventures putting out a decent picture could be a sign that Armageddon is upon us.

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.

Interesting script and general plot, but my god, the female lead in this film was the most irritating and loathsome I've ever had the displeasure of watching.

A character like this needed to have a lot of charm to extract even the slightest bit of compassion from the viewer. This character was so one-note and had ZERO charm. She was only annoying and only ridiculously over the top rude and stubborn.

The male lead, now he had likability. If he didn't, I would've stopped watching the second this woman opened her mouth. I did have to stop watching eventually because I couldn't take her anymore, but I'm proud of myself for making 3/4 of the way through.

Andi (the sceptic) is quite possible the most irritating actress ever.. She just wanders about looking at & in everything.... ohhh & questions everything. I know this sounds like the job of a sceptic but you really need to watch this to see how annoying she is....

I can't imagine anyone liking this "movie". If I was the man, I would have told her to get out, she would have refused and I would have called the police to force her out. So we get a back and forth and back and forth, etc. An interesting thing if this had been a Shakespeare play. Could not wait for her to get what she deserved. Of course, it was a YouTube "influencer".

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.

..if you know what to expect. This is a comedy/dialogue driven drama/horror, like a stage play. Not as brilliant as "Sleuth", not as funny as Polansky's "Carnage", not scary or gory. Nevertheless, it is funny, enjoyable, some fresh ideas and the actors are really good. I wouldn't call it innovative or exciting, but this has a delightful plot, and as i said, if you know what to expect, you'll like it. 6.8/10.

Seance (2021) is not this film. This is The Seance (2021). It's quite tricky because they have such similar titles and were released the same year. And this movie is TERRIBLE.

I gleaned right away that the movie had a very small budget, but that did not stop me from giving a spooky ghost-themed horror flick a chance. After all, it could have turned out to be kinda creepy in a weird way, or it may have been a horror comedy. It is neither, and the female lead is atrociously obnoxious. Then the story of how the male lead became a holder of seances for money in the first place unfolds in the worst possible way. A hateful, narcissistic skeptical woman pushes her way around the man's house determined to find "the strings" that are making the seances happen, which she is also determined to prove are a fake. Somehow this is framed as "flirting" in the way of lame 1990s romantic comedies which pretend two people who can't stand each other could ever have a healthy relationship beyond a one night stand. I wanted to push this woman out of this man's house physically, and I am a woman and a feminist. And...the dialogue is sub-par, there's nothing beyond mediocre writing and pseudo-intellectual banter for the largest percentage of this film which should have never been made.

This film reminded me of magician Harry Houdini and his mission to expose fake mediums. But The Seance has a modern, updated approach for today's audience. The film spends a lot of time on character development as it focuses more on the interactions of the two leads rather than jump scares.

As far as the acting goes, Julia McIlvain steals the opening scene with a stunning performance. From there, Michael Minto and Miranda Skerman take over and do a great job of pulling the viewer in, as we learn more and more about Nate, Andy and what has lead them each to this time and place.

The direction came across as up close and personal, like you are a welcomed bystander, watching the conversation and events of the evening unfold. And the score was excellent!

There are some limitations, as with any small budget indie flick. But, all in all, it was much more than I expected. Those that are looking for gore may be disappointed. But those wanting to see and hear a story should be quite entertained.

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.

Gravitas Ventures make bargain bin movies. They use bargain bin actors, bargain bin writers, bargain bin producers.

And so it's no real surprise they continue to belch out rubbish like this. The lack of a scary atmosphere, the terrible acting, the awful storyline. Whatever point this company is trying to make I'm not sure? Maybe that they can make the worse horror movies in Hollywood ? Point taken, Now please just stop.

Absolute garbage from start to end.it bored me to death.this has to be the worst movie ever in my opinion.and i only rated it 1 star and that was for the credits at the end.

The movie is one of the many worsts of 2021. The characters are stonecold in performance and the female lead speaking through her nose is immensely irritating......and the storyline,well there is no story.

Dont waste ur time and money.

So i like low budget single location movies those come with a good script. So this one started fine and surprisingly developed fine too. The dialogues among the two charcters were OK. It was full of suspense. Impossible to guess if it's a cheap scam or something paranormal going on there. You cant side with one of the characters. Then the time comes to reveal the truth and the quality suddenly shrinks down to dark ride level. I mean come on.

A sceptic attends a seance, and won't leave the house until she finds the truth.

Some nice ideas in this movie, treating the seance scenario as more than a gimmick in an attempt to dig down into character. The camera work is good, always trying out the interesting angle, and the location is used to the full to shape the story. This is mostly a two-hander, with decent performances as the characters lay out their conflicting beliefs through flashbacks to their pasts. Sometimes the music is interesting, with a mix of piano, strings and synth, although it does get laid on heavy in some talking scenes.

The big drawback is the dialogue, with way too much piled on when we can figure things out for ourselves, and way too much sarcasm even after the opening scene has pitched its sceptical credentials. That scene might have been better if the direction just concentrated on the actors' faces as they reacted to events, instead of having them butt in all the time, which would have made the piano episode really hit home with just a few lines. The Tracey-Hepburn patter between the two main characters is kinda annoying, although they do settle into an interesting antagonism. But even then, the tone gets misjudged, especially in a scene that repeats the lame humour of the phrase "portable poltergeist panic-room," completely deflating the spooky events that preceded it.

The psychology turns out simple in the end, which is disappointing because it seemed to be building on the interesting idea of ghosts as people in wave, rather than particle, form, which could have mapped on to how we deal with each other emotionally. The resolution has the right idea, but goes on too long.

Overall: Plenty to chew on, but the writing watered it down.

Ps. What's with the roccata in the music credits?

This is a thinking person's haunted film. Quirky with slight humor elements, the majority of the film is a dialogue between two characters. So while many may feel it is slow and "talky," I felt the development of the characters and supernatural elements were excellent and captivating. Charming, which is an unusual adjective for this type of film.

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 usually dislike horror movies, but I enjoyed the premise of this thoroughly. It was artistic in its coloration, and filmography. Michael Minto's real/comedic presence brought laughter to a otherwise scary movie. I related to Andy's character for many reasons and think that this was an awesome story to tell. The decor of the house was on point and parts of the movie had me gripping my husband's hand tighter! We enjoyed the banter between Nate and Andy's characters as well as the intelligent backstory to nate's character. Reminds me of Sundance film festival movies but more entertaining!

This film surprised me with its quality. It looks great, is well acted and directed, and by the end of it a total skeptic like me was kinda believing in the whole ghost thing. At least within the context of the film, supernatural moments are handled so well that they add to the movie instead of draw away from it like most ghost stories.

Congrats to the indie crew who pulled off this feature!

Not quite sure of what to make of low raters perhaps you wanted more" horror" this is more a drama and helping of letting go. Was very good for 2 actor movie.

I have loved horror films, seances and Ouija boards since I was a teenager in the 60s and 70s. I found this movie a little slow in the beginning but it quickly drew my interest after the seance circle was broken. I grew up watching horror movies without today's super technology and special effects. Understanding that this movie was made on a low budget, I thought the film maker did a great job of making the ghostly spirits terrifying by their simple undead looks. I also enjoyed the sporadic humorous banter between the two main characters. Humor and horror are two of my favorite movie genres.