The Seance

Interesting script and general plot, but my god, the female lead in this film was the most irritating and loathsome I've ever had the displeasure of watching.

A character like this needed to have a lot of charm to extract even the slightest bit of compassion from the viewer. This character was so one-note and had ZERO charm. She was only annoying and only ridiculously over the top rude and stubborn.

The male lead, now he had likability. If he didn't, I would've stopped watching the second this woman opened her mouth. I did have to stop watching eventually because I couldn't take her anymore, but I'm proud of myself for making 3/4 of the way through.

THE SÉANCE is a Gravitas Ventures production. And all that entails.

To ME, it entails two things. Firstly, as the Gravitas Ventures logo slithers off screen, I look for the ridges and troughs of the slug slime it leaves behind and secondly, I have to prepare myself to view a movie that is unconscionably execrable.

So imagine how shocked I was, shocked I say, when THE SÉANCE actually DIDN'T make me reflexively void my bowels. It was, and I gag as I say this, actually... kind of... good? Which in this case means not terrible.

Do remember that it was, after all, a Gravitas Ventures picture, and even though I actually enjoyed it, all of the boilerplate contract terms and conditions of a Gravitas Ventures abomination still apply. That is, bargain-basement production values, color balancing that makes you want to bathe, sound design where the soundtrack drowns out the dialogue, a single location set for the entire picture, and so on. Yep, it's all there.

And yet, though it astonishes me to admit it, the story was somewhat interesting and the acting didn't trigger retching. The two principles who were the only people on screen about 80% of the time, were actually, dare I say it, pretty good. The male lead even managed to be a little charming. He might go on to perform in real movies someday.

THE SÉANCE did go on one scene too long and ended with a clunk, but still, I actually would call it worth watching.

I'm viewing the whole experience as a Christmas miracle. But be careful, Gravitas Ventures putting out a decent picture could be a sign that Armageddon is upon us.

I really wanted to love this movie, I'm a big fan of supernatural themed horror so the story appealed to me. The acting from the two main characters is pretty good, some of the supporting cast not so much, but as they are not in the movie too long it doesn't distract from the enjoyment. Some of the things that did distracted from my enjoyment were this.

During some scenes, the background music (mournful cello of course) is often overwhelming and drowns out the dialogue. The female lead is quite an obnoxious character, and it becomes tiresome listening to her constant attempts at debunking, disbelief and general rudeness. And the ending was a bit of a damp squib.

The movie does have its good points though. The dialogue between the two leads in mostly snappy and they have some good chemistry. The story is interesting, if not overly original, or perfectly executed, but I'm guessing from some of the "special effects" it was not made with a blockbuster budget. Overall I did enjoy it, and it made me wanting to keep watching to the end. And I do like the phrase "Portable Poltergeist Panic Room" for its alliteration.

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased "The Seance" but I really liked this movie.

Good story line, well acted, good rapport and interesting dialogue between Nate and Andy. Impressive visual effects.

Overall, very well done.

For fans of movies "most like Hitchcock" who like suspense minus the blood and gore, check out this movie. Did I mention it has an unexpected surprise ending?

Well written and acted, with nice sets and sound design. The special effects aren't great, but the chemistry between the actors is. The dialogue is engaging but does get a little too cutesy sometimes, hence the 7. Not scary, but dark, atmospheric, nicely crafted and well worth a watch IMO.