Une voix dans l'au-dela

(Some Spoilers) From an episode of the popular TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" the movie " Voice from the Grave" is based a a true story that happened some time ago in Chicago. A young medical assistant Terry Deveovoux, Kim Dickens,is brutally murdered and made to look like she was raped and then her apartment is set on fire by her killer to cover up his crime. The crime goes unsolved until a friend of Terry's Rene Perkins, Megan Ward, who also works at the Lakeshore Hospial were Terry was employed starts to get visions of Terry's murder and not only sees what happened to her, that the Chicago Police kept from the public, but sees the person who murdered her.

The movie plays out like a supernatural thriller but what makes it so unusual is that it's based on a real event. The movie shows how the police the hospital staff and even, at first, Renee's husband Bill, John Terlesky, a doctor at Lakeshore Hospital find Renee's visions almost impossible to believe until she uncannily reveals information that only the killer could have known. Renee's attempts to find the killer is aided by the ghost of Terry herself who is reaching out from the grave to get justice for her killer and eternal rest for herself when he's finally made to pay for his crime.

Like the famous quote by Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle "When you dismiss the impossible that what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth" and that's how the movie "Voice from the Grave" plays itself out. Renee can't explain why she's having these visions from the dead Terry Devevoux but their dead on to what happened to her and who the killer is.

The Chicago police detective on the case Joe Sroccula, Kevin Bobson, who at first is skeptical of what Renee is telling him slowly becomes a believer when the evidence starts to pile up and fall into his lap because of her revelations about Terry's murder:1.Terry wasn't raped 2.Terry's jewelry was stolen by the killer and given to his girlfriend as a present.3.The killer not only knew Terry but lived within two blocks from her apartment.4.The initials on a slip found on the dead Terry Devevoux matched the person that Renee said was Terry's killer.5.The killer worked not only at the hospital with Terry but also worked part-time as a TV repairman who was called to fix Terry's television the night she was murdered.6.And even more incredible the killer's unique lighter, that he set her apartment on fire, was described down to the emerald green crocodile eyes on it by Renne.

Even with all this evidence it looked like the killer would get way with Terry's murder, even after he willingly confessed to it, because no jury would believe Renee's visions and voices from the grave. Since they defied modern physics and were beyond the understanding of any logic. Withdrawing his confession at the urging of his lawyer the killer seems to be home free as the jury is hopelessly deadlocked relying only on the evidence of Renee's contact with Terry to convict him. In the end it's his own conscience that gets the better of him.

Seeing, in his mind, Terry in the courtroom and on the stand her killer realized that he if found innocent will never have a moment of peace as long as Terry's murdered remained unsolved. With that he again confessed in open court. With Terry's killer knowing that he'd be much freer in a jail-cell then outside as a free man as long as Terry's ghost was there relentlessly tormenting him for what he did to her.

The amazing thing about this film is that it is actually a true story. Terry Deveroux is a nurse and night club singer who is preparing for her evening performance when someone visits her, strangles her, knifes her och burns her after having made some effort to make it look that she was raped. As her apartment burns, there are no clues left for the police. But as a nurse she had colleagues, and one of them, who recently had a miscarriage, is visited by Terry from beyond the grave, and she at times actually becomes Terry, remembering every detail of her own murder. During these sessions of being possessed by her friend, Rene Perkins is unconscious, but her husband is understanding and realizes the facts of the case. The police do the rest, and during the ensuing trials, even the murderer gets some taste of the visits from beyond the grave.

It is well done with interviews with the actual persons, interfoliated between the proceedings. Which add to the authenticity and almost documentary character of the film. The actors are perfectly convincing, and there are no disturbing extra effects, as the authenticity needs no extra dramatization. On the whole, it is surprisingly good and well worth adding to the canon of good films.

In Chicago, the nurse Terry Deveroux (Kim Dickens) is murdered at home in a sadistic way. Renne Perkins (Megan Ward) is her colleague in Lakeshore Hospital and had just one contact with her a couple of days before. Renne is married to Bill Perkins (John Telersky), a resident surgeon in the hospital, and both are fighting together to improve in live. The residence of Bill is close to the end and he expects to be hired by the direction of the hospital. However, Renne is possessed by Terry spirit, who claims for justice. The acceptance of this situation challenges the logical formation of the couple, and they come up to a dilemma: shall they go to the police and expose that strange situation or not?

"Voice from the Grave" is a TV movie with a great screenplay that will certainly surprise the viewer. Mystery, crime, suspense, drama, all of these ingredients are mixed in right doses in the plot. The cast and direction are sharp. The end of this film could be shorter and disappoints a little bit, but the credit informs that this would be indeed a true story. If the viewer likes supernatural movies like 'The Sixth Sense', he or she will certainly enjoy this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vozes do Além" ("Voices From Beyond")

Note: On 12 June 2022, I saw this film again.

Even though this movie is based on a true story, it takes a few liberties. The victim was a Phillipine immigrant named Teresita Basa. Not Terry Devereaux. The nurse who was haunted by the victims voice, and her husband, were immigrants from India. But more important, the murderer was a black man, which gave the case a bit of a racial element.

This murder happened in Chicago, and the jury was a mostly black jury. Had the murderer not confessed, the jury was ready to convict him on a lesser charge, and he would have been given a light sentence. Unfortunately, the plea bargain allowed a sentence that was much too light for the crime he committed. He is probably back on the street right now. Maybe that's why the victims name was changed. Her family flew in from the Phillipines for the trial, and they were shocked at the punishment that we allowed in America, for murder.

I was hoping to purchase this movie Dvd form. But I'm unable to locate this movie anywhere! Even through Lifetime which is where I happened to watch it! This Movie is so hard to find!!