For those looking for a good Halloween ghost story that offers more than blood and guts, and cheesy special effects, I would suggest checking out The Presence (now available at Red Box).
Mira Sorvino stars in the movie as a girl seeking isolation at the family’s summer home on an island somewhere in Oregon. The house appears to be a million miles from civilization and the cinematography sufficiently brings about an eerie visual silence that tells us that she may not be alone.
After a number of incidents in which doors close by themselves and the Victrola phonograph decides that it likes to play at will, Sorvino senses a “presence” within the house. Her intuition is correct. A creepy apparition played by Shane West is apparently in some type of stiff standing limbo in the house with no way out. (We no nothing about the apparition except that he may have been some type of psycho killer who had drowned in the area as indicated in a newspaper clipping.)
Our silent apparition, while not offering up any kind of imminent danger, is disturbed when the girl’s boy friend shows up (Justin Kirk) uninvited. At this point we find out our apparition is not alone. A ghoul of nefarious countenance begins haunting the psycho killer’s ghost and instructs him to murder the boyfriend. A classic battle between good and evil ensues and the viewer becomes glued to the story.
This is good, intelligent story telling with not a lot of blood and guts (actually, no blood and guts), directed by Tom Provost in his debut. If you’re looking for the mindless genre of Scream or the Howling 2 you will not be pleased; but if you are looking for a real scare for Halloween: rent the movie.
My rating: 4 of 5 psycho killer ghosts.