Though I'm well disposed toward elliptical spook stories that depend on the audience's imagination for their jolts and effects, it takes art as well as craft to put them across, and Geoffrey Sax's direction of a Niall Johnson script has neither.
White Noise (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:3
Rotten:29
Average Rating:3.5/10
Consensus: While there are some built-in scares, the movie is muddled and unsatisfying.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, disturbing images and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Jan 7, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $55,865,715
Synopsis: People have always searched for a way to communicate with the other side--fascinated, motivated, driven to find a way to connect with loved ones who have passed on. Electronic Voice Phenomenon... People have always searched for a way to communicate with the other side--fascinated, motivated, driven to find a way to connect with loved ones who have passed on. Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is the process through which the dead communicate with the living through household recording devices. These extraordinary recordings--captured by people all over the world, in their homes, with a simple tape or video recorder--seem to confirm what many of us have dared to believe: it is possible for the dead to communicate with us. And all we have to do is listen. Now, from Universal Pictures and Gold Circle Films comes the suspense thriller that explores this very-real, other-worldly communication--White Noise. Tapping into our deepest fears and most profound longings, White Noise forces us to re-examine the world in which we live and, in the process, question our most basic notions about life and death. Michael Keaton plays successful architect Jonathan Rivers, whose peaceful existence is shattered by the unexplained disappearance and death of his wife, Anna (Chandra West). Jonathan is eventually contacted by a man (Ian McNeice), who claims to be receiving messages from Anna through EVP. At first skeptical, Jonathan then becomes convinced of the messages' validity, and is soon obsessed with trying to contact her on his own. His further explorations into EVP and the accompanying supernatural messages unwittingly open a door to another world, allowing something uninvited into his life. White Noise is directed by veteran television helmer Geoffrey Sax, written by Niall Johnson (The Big Swap), and produced by Paul Brooks (executive producer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Shawn Williamson (House of the Dead). -- © Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West, Ian McNeice
Starring: Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West, Ian McNeice, Nicholas Elia, Sarah Strange, Mike Dopud, Mitchell Kosterman, Keegan Connor Tracy, Miranda Frigon, April Telek, Aaron Douglas
Director: Geoffrey Sax
Director: Geoffrey Sax
Screenwriter: Niall Johnson
Producer: Paul Brooks, Shawn Williamson
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for White Noise
White noise is intended to help you fall asleep. White Noise would never let you do that, though. It's far too interested in a cacophony of cheap scares.
Even if its dorky climax throws you out of the mood again, there are staticky bits of White Noise that still manage to cling.
Vigorously pushes the supernatural line throughout, but unfortunately its final movement is so incoherent that the whole thing collapses.
When it falters, it does so for the same reason certain otherwise perfectly unnerving recent horror movies have -- because the atmosphere of irrational dread is punctured by the demand for a rational explanation.
The movie delivers little more than cheap shocks and stylized static.
Around the two-thirds mark, this restless bum had an urge to move considerably farther than the seat's edge.
An unsatisfying supernatural thriller with an effectively unsettling build-up and a frustratingly muddled pay-off.
Latest News for White Noise
May 02, 2006:
"White Noise 2" Set Visit: Hanging With Nathan Fillion, PLUS The First "White Noise 2" Set Photos!
Our "White Noise 2" set coverage wraps up with not one, but many delights: a sit down with Nathan Fillion, plus the first ever photos from the spooky set to grace the... More...
April 27, 2006:
"White Noise 2" Set Visit: Shawn Williamson On Horror Remakes, "Dungeon Siege," and...Canadian Horror?
RT's "White Noise 2" set coverage, Part Three: producer Shawn Williamson, whose 50+ credits include "Slither," "White Noise," and many of Uwe... More...
April 26, 2006:
"White Noise 2" Set Visit: Patrick Lussier Promises Twists, Talks Horror
Our "White Noise 2" set coverage continues with RT's conversation with director Patrick Lussier, as the horror editor-director talks about working with Wes Craven and... More...
March 14, 2006:
Nathan Fillion Talks "White Noise" Sequel
Sci Fi Wire talked to "Serenity" star Nathan Fillion about his upcoming thriller, "White Noise 2: The Light," which has just started filming in Vancouver. More...
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