SYNOPSIS:
A woman travels to an isolated cabin where she is unknowingly stalked by an obsessive apparition. The arrival of the woman’s boyfriend brings a change in behavior to not only the woman but the presence residing in the home as well. The woman becomes defensively irrational to her boyfriend and the apparition must decide if he wants to intervene or let things fall as they may.
REVIEW:
Written and Directed by Tom Provost
Starring: Mira Sorvino, Shane West, Justin Kirk, Tony Curran
A good ghost story is hard to come by these days. The last one I saw had to have been “The Orphanage”. The last one I read was “Heart Shaped Box” by Joe Hill. A good ghost story showcases elements that other types of horror movies prefer to gloss over in favor of in-your-face, bash-you-over –the-head violence. Elements like subtlety, creepiness, pacing, tension, story, etc. Not only does The Presence deliver on all of these elements with artistic finesse, I believe The Presence is the most innovative ghost story I’ve ever seen.
There was nothing about this film I didn’t like. Tom Provost, in his directorial debut, throws down the gauntlet, bringing a film that whispers its story to you rather than screaming it in your ear. While the script is well written and never seems to stumble or fail in perpetuating the story, I particularly enjoyed those moments when there was no dialogue, just beautiful and dramatic shots of characters doing what they do in the tranquil cabin setting in the mountains of Oregon. The blend of editing and cinematography to create a whole environment was masterful and not indicative of a first effort. Tom Provost gives a clinic on storytelling through a lens of a camera. I also applaud him for using that lens, and for the most part only that lens, to tell this ghost story. I saw only one instance of CGI in the whole film which means he did something daring in telling a story without using special effects as a crutch.
The actors too are brilliant in the film. Mira Sorvino (Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress in “Mighty Aphrodite”) does a fantastic and believable job as the Woman, a character with a substantial amount of depth even before the influence of the presence. Sorvino is able to be that girl who on the surface has it all under control but just beneath that surface, is barely containing a volatile combination of insecurity, uncertainty and fear; a combination that can be heated up to a boiling point with the correct amount of heat. Shane West (“A Walk to Remember”) did remarkably well as the apparition, especially considering he had all of two words spoken in the entire film. This aspect of the film is what I was referring to when I spoke earlier of scenes lacking dialogue. West’s portrayal of the mysterious ghost was effective because the ghost’s presence in the cabin was ambiguous. His history isn’t ever developed as more than a newspaper clipping which is fine because, just as West portrays his character, it doesn’t matter why he’s there, just that he is. Justin Kirk (“Weeds”) does an incredibly convincing job as the Man, a character so in love with the Woman that he takes an inordinate amount of verbal and mental abuse from her. His character is either the most patient man ever to have existed or he is the most stupid. Either way, his love for her is real and Kirk makes it seem plausible that a man would go through what he goes through for the love of his woman.
The Presence is a movie I was delighted to watch. As much as adore cheesy horror movies and proudly tout the fact I’m a gore-hound, I also like to watch movies with style and substance. I enjoy films with meaning and story. The Presence had all of those things and still managed to make me jump out of my seat once or twice. I can’t recommend this film highly enough…to people who are capable of thinking past their noses.
The Presence is now available for rental thru Redbox
I love horror films and I really love shane west but this has got to be the most boring movie ever and its well lets just say the dumbest movie I have ever seen sorry but thats how I feel
this is the most boring movie ever it is dumb and not at all interesting or frightening
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This was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. There was NO plot at all, no character development. Funny how the reviewer forgot to mention that a bad demon spirit comes out of nowhere and tries to get the benign ghost to be a bad ghost/demon.
And, why? nothing is answered (and, yes, I caught THE WOMAN’s comments under the house). At that point, I wish the ghost would have agreed because that would have added some excitement to this bore of a movie.
The other thing was the ending — which tried to be ambiguous but was just annoying. The hooded creature which was in the other man’s boat earlier was likely the bad demon ghost afterall. So, as the movie closes we’re now supposed to be wondering if the good guys really ahve a happy ending afterall.
Major fail.
Sometimes I wonder why actors take certain roles. . . often the movie is bad but I can understand that the script may have looked good– on paper, the story may work, but the execution fails.
With this movie, though, I can’t even imagine HOW it looked good on paper. It was THAT BAD.
this movieeee sucks!!!!!
F&ck this movie it was a piece of shit out of red box also I took an arrow to the knee
I guess I’m the only one that enjoyed the movie and understood it.. We all have a good and bad side..and it’s up to you to decide if you should listen to those evil whispers which are our insecure and paranoid thoughts …The second presence was no ghost but a malicious demon, and the other presence that’s always with boatman is a guardian who informed the old man that something was not right on the island the first time and the second time, that’s why he came back.
To sum it up, when there are forces of evil working against you, there is always a higher power protecting you and giving you signs… You just have see them!
Its such as you learn my mind! You seem to understand a lot approximately this, such as you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you just could do with some p.c. to drive the message house a little bit, however instead of that, this is fantastic blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.
I saw this:
“I guess I’m the only one that enjoyed the movie and understood it..”
Do you think other people are stupid? This movie wasn’t difficult to understand. This movie was written with the idea of good and evil, with a major deus ex machina at the end to tie up a crappy plot.
The symbolism, dialogue, and acting was all incredibly heavy-handed. The music blasted at random times with the finesse of an amputee trying to swim and NOTHING was scary.
This was a shit movie from start to finish. Seriously, every facial expression the evil ghost made looked like he was jizzing on the resident ghost. He’d whisper in his ear and then “dun dun dun” ‘s would blast from the music, just reminding us that the movie means serious business.
NO innovation. The movie relies on tried and true garbage methods (shuffling, scarred past, cuts to some guy standing staring straight ahead) to tell the story instead of explaining anything, which basically means the audience suspending disbelief for every scene because “that’s how it’s done” in the horror movie genre.
I seriously thought this movie was a comedy. Talk about total crap.