Michael Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, an architect suddenly obsessed with otherworldly communication after the untimely death of his wife Anna (played by Chandra West). After meeting Raymond Price, Rivers finds himself attempting to communicate with the other side via electronic voice phenomena sampling and transinstrumental communication techniques. A world of trouble lies ahead for Rivers, a non-believer soon converted into a full-fledged believer in the existence of life after death. Avoiding all warnings not to tread on dangerous ground, Rivers is led on by a hazardous curiosity into the paranormal.
Good Points
The movie was a good flick, entertaining and factual in most aspects. Those that research the paranormal seemed to have longed for a deeper and more thorough explanation of electronic voice phenomena, but overall, have had positive comments on the film. Overall the movie was enjoyable and is worth watching again.
Some critics argued that the film just wasn’t scary enough. While this may be true, it is an accurate portrayal of paranormal investigation. Not all occurrences are frightening or unusual. Most critics rated the movie as a “C” flick, but this viewer argues that it merits a little more credit than that. Most of the viewers I have talked to admittedly enjoyed the movie and report that they would see it again if given the opportunity to do so. Try as one might to point out the errors in the movie, few if any exist: those arguments suggesting errors in the film are, for the most part, easily explainable.
Bad Points:
The movie, while accurate, did seem to lack sufficient explanation about electronic voice phenomena and instrumental transcommunication for those individuals that may not work with such experimentation. Some viewers felt there were minor problems with certain aspects of the film’s overall continuity, but other viewers have argued that there were no continuity issues.
Some viewers have noted that in the scene where Jonathan is in the bookstore with Sarah that a boom microphone appears in the scene for a few moments.
SPOILER AHEAD:
The ending disappointed many viewers: let’s face it—no one likes to see the main character die. Meanwhile, the explanation of the shadow beings is left unanswered. For those who have never heard of shadow beings or shadow people before encountering the film, they are left wondering what they are.
