Initially I have to say that having read some review for this movie, I was preparing myself for a boring movie, but still I am not really one to turn off movies unless they are beyond boring, and I did find the plot of the story interesting, so despite the bad reviews, I sat down to watch "Seance".
I don't understand why it got so bad reviews, because I didn't find the movie that bad. Sure it was not a million dollar Hollywood movie, but still it was to the point and it had a good enough story to tell. "Seance" is about four young people going to a city morgue, where one of them works as a security guard, to have a seance (hence the name of the movie) in order to call up the spirit of the dead. Something goes awry and something dark is called forth.
The storyline was compelling and it was good at building up suspense and thrills. Now, don't expect to be scared, because it is not that kind of horror movie. Instead, it is the type of movie that builds on brooding atmosphere and subtle terror.
Personally, I found there was a little too much Christian propaganda in the movie. But hey, dealing with evil presences, I suppose that is what people think they need to turn to.
The people cast for the movie did good enough jobs, two people stand out and carries the movie entirely; that being Bobby Campo (playing Joey) and Nazneen Contractor (playing Eva). Their performances were really great, and came off really believable.
One thing that I didn't understand about the movie was if the entity that was called forth had been waiting 200 years for a mortal vessel to possess, why did it speak 21st century American English and not 19th century American English? If they had kept it that way, the movie would have had so much more credibility. And also, a cool touch to the possession would have been if the possessed individual spoke with those voices simultaneously.
"Seance" is a toned down version of "The Exorcist" and it would appeal to today's audience, and perhaps even instill a curiosity to further explore the market for possession-style movies and return to the 'classics'.
"Seance" is well worth a watch if you like movies that have a brooding atmosphere and builds up subtle terror, instead of being all gory and trying to be as brutal as possible. And speaking of gore, then there were actually some nice enough scenes with blood and injuries in "Seance". Thumbs up for that. And the story takes place in a city morgue, that just adds so much to the setting, and that was really a nice touch.
