Messages

In England, the American pathologist Dr. Richard Murray (Jeff Fahey) still grieves the death of his wife Carol (Geraldine Alexander) eight months ago in a car crash. He is drinking too much whiskey due to his guilty complex since he had a love affair with a woman when Carol left home, and he has frequent blackouts, forgetting what he has done in the previous drinking night. Meanwhile a serial-killer is attacking women in the location, and the experienced American cop DCI Collins (Martin Kove) and the psychologist Frances Beale (Kim Thomson) are invited to help the local police in the investigations. When Dr. Murray receives messages from beyond, he meets his friend Father Randall (Jon-Paul Gates) seeking spiritual support and explanation.

"Messages" is the type of promising B-movie that is wasted due to a flawed, inconsistent and incoherent story, badly developed screenplay and terrible direction. For example, the pretentious Collins is an awful character and why would the British police asks for help to such a jerk? If the spirits could help the living, why Carol has not stopped the serial-killer in the very beginning of his crimes? The identity of the serial-killer is a silly twist and the character in a terrible collection of clichés. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Mensagens do Além" (Messages From Beyond")

Makes a change to get a decent British Film with familiar faces that can maintain your interest throughout the whole movie. The thriller does well to keep you guessing and avoids an anti-climax ending that movies costing millions to produce fail on i.e. such as Lady in the Water! which was fine until the last scene.

The film gets right into the action from an early start so keeps you wanting more early on and it also helps to see some familiar faces on screen which helps getting into and accepting the characters. Some shocking scenes but not overdone. Nice to be able to get into a film without throw away scenes of nudity just to make it interesting - well done to the director for keeping the language clean and sticking to the plot!

For a budget film this was a great effort with limited resources and far better than most of the c--p that seems to be put out on the Sky channels these days.

Kim Thompson is a bit tasty too...

Through the entire film, except for maybe a few minutes here and there, all I could hear was the music. Not a soundtrack as such, but the same piano type tracks, that overlapped other scenes.

At some points, you could barely hear what the actors where saying, though in some cases, that may have been a blessing.

Basically, the pathologist's wife died in a crash a few months back, and there is a serial killer on the lose. There are quite a few well known faces in the film, but nothing to shake a stick at. The main cop played by Martin Kove was so annoying, I was praying he'd be the next victim. Then there are a few fight scenes, that the sound effects sound like they're punching a tin roof, or like those old-style martial art films, as in the sound.

Dr. Richard Murray (Jeff Fahey), the angsty, guilt-ridden protagonist, is getting messages but from where? That's the central question in this suspenseful mystery story about a serial killer on the loose. The messages on his computer beg for help. Are they from beyond the grave? From his own subconscious? From someone playing with his mind? This question is a large part of the suspense.

This is a mystery story with a twist. If you're expecting CSI: England, you won't find it in this film. It deliberately sets a dark and moody tone. In turn artsy, eerie and somber, the only "comic" relief is Detective Collins, the serial killer specialist (Martin Kove) brought in from Los Angeles. He isn't intended to be funny but he is because he is such a cliché of the English view of an American "cowboy" –brash and obnoxious. However irritating the character—which is very, his brashness makes a certain amount of sense if you view it as a defense mechanism. Dealing with serial killers every day is a bit straining on the psyche. Might make you a bit testy too.

My main problem with Collins is not his obnoxiousness but his relevance. England has lots of serial killer experts. Why bring in an outsider? Seems gratuitous to me. But at least the forensic psychiatrist is English.

Then there is Dr. Robert Golding (Bruce Payne), the medical examiner. Alas, not in the film long enough for Bruce Payne fans but his character, with that crisp and resonant English accent that he doesn't always use, will please Payne fans. Like the movie, Dr. Golding is moody and somber. But unlike Dr McCort, Payne's character from Asylum of the Damned, Dr, Golding doesn't do unauthorized experiments in the basement!

Now, the big question for me was –is the film psychologically sound from a forensic point of view? Leaving aside the supernatural possibilities, I was pleased to see that the answer is yes. I wasn't sure at first but ultimately the serial killer does fit the classic profile. Since this a suspense film,I can't tell you why. That would kill (pardon the expression) thesuspense.

Overall, I found the film suspenseful and worth watching. I did think the ending was a bit hokey but maybe you'll see it differently. A lot is left to the individual viewer to decide. Were the messages supernatural or something else? Decide for yourself.

The music was too loud in this film. And even when the actors were speaking it played loudly and made it difficult to hear the dialogue.