I managed to pick up where I left off with my reviews before heading to HorrorHound Weekend. My review with Dawn and Terry, who still hasn't finished his review yet as I write this, was my Netflix instant watch, which would have been next in line. Now that I am completely done with those reviews from that weekend, it is time for a movie off of Amazon Prime. The next film that I had in my queue was called Evidence Of A Haunting (2010). I added this movie just because it had to do with ghosts, which is probably my favorite subgenre in horror. I wasn't sure if this was a type of documentary or an actual movie heading into it.
Ryane (Jessica D. Fulling) is the leader and founder of a paranormal team that operates in the southwest of the United States. Along with her is Sam (Robert M. Alford) the tech guy, Tor (Christopher Cassarino is the main camera operator, Echo (Korin Medina) is the medium, Shelley (Renee Wiggins) is the expert/pagan priestess, and Father Will Bowden (Scott Evans). These are their most disturbing cases.
Evidence Of A Haunting was co-written by Jessica D. Fulling and Joey Evans, who also directed. The story takes place over three investigations into a possible demon, a poltergeist, and haunted underground tunnels. A message at the start of the movie tells us that these three cases are the most disturbing that the team had investigated. I had a feeling that they were the only three they went to just because it seemed odd that they happened right in a row. How do I know they happened in a row? Because of Ryane giving us the details of the next case which is what we get to watch. I wondered how long the team had been together just because they don't really come across as friends or act like they know each other all that well. Maybe they had done some cases before what we see because each does seem to know what they are supposed to be doing. The last case takes up the most time for the film. The first two cases go by pretty quick, especially the first one. They are supposed to be at the house for an hour, but we see a grand total of fifteen minutes. This was a bit too fast just because there are so many characters being introduced and a lot was going on. I didn't have a problem with the cases. They weren't the most interesting cases in the world, but they worked for this type of film. I didn't like how they felt rushed through, with even the last case feeling that way at times. I did like that in between the cases, we got to watch them hanging out and getting to know each other better. This helps us get to know them as well. We don't find out a whole lot about most of the team, although two of them end up falling in love. Ryane is the most fleshed out character, which could explain why the actress playing that character has a writing credit. We learn about her past a little bit. Just enough to explain why she is into the paranormal. I thought that this could have been expanded on more, since it just one moment in her life and then it is dropped. It might have to do with how things ended, but it was hard to say if that was the case or not. One thing that really bugged me is the ghost from the first story. It appears twice, in the first and third story or case, I guess I should say. This ghost sounded a lot like a demon, which is what they first thought it was. It was just weird to present the ghost that way, in both stories, as I don't know any women that talk that way, alive or dead.
Even though some people die, there wasn't anything as far as effects go. One thing I found funny about the deaths is that the person's name and their job on the team would be shown in the corner of the screen while showing them dead. Not sure why they did that because at that point in the story, we pretty much already knew everyone. The acting is average at best. I never thought of anyone as great at any time to be honest. Jessica D. Fulling isn't too bad in the lead role. The rest of the actors playing the parts of the rest of the team is very mixed with their acting. Each seemed to have a scene where I thought their acting wasn't half bad, but those were few and far between. The supporting actors are not all that great.
I did like that the first and last stories ended up being connected. The last story was a little confusing as well as the main ghost was named after a demon which actually plays into the story. So again, we get a ghost that acts like a demon, but maybe this one was the real deal...or maybe not. It seemed like the real deal, but so did the other ghost. That was the main reason I didn't like Evidence Of A Haunting, it just couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to be more about demons or just ghosts. Combine that with the acting and the pacing issues and it just wasn't a very good movie. I won't give it my lowest score just because there were things that I thought was interesting about it, even if they were very few. I guess it depends on the kind of movie you are looking for, but this isn't one I would probably tell my friends to check out. It is kind of good for a laugh at times though, so there is that to think about.
2 out of 5 I want to go explore some tunnels!
Ryane (Jessica D. Fulling) is the leader and founder of a paranormal team that operates in the southwest of the United States. Along with her is Sam (Robert M. Alford) the tech guy, Tor (Christopher Cassarino is the main camera operator, Echo (Korin Medina) is the medium, Shelley (Renee Wiggins) is the expert/pagan priestess, and Father Will Bowden (Scott Evans). These are their most disturbing cases.
Evidence Of A Haunting was co-written by Jessica D. Fulling and Joey Evans, who also directed. The story takes place over three investigations into a possible demon, a poltergeist, and haunted underground tunnels. A message at the start of the movie tells us that these three cases are the most disturbing that the team had investigated. I had a feeling that they were the only three they went to just because it seemed odd that they happened right in a row. How do I know they happened in a row? Because of Ryane giving us the details of the next case which is what we get to watch. I wondered how long the team had been together just because they don't really come across as friends or act like they know each other all that well. Maybe they had done some cases before what we see because each does seem to know what they are supposed to be doing. The last case takes up the most time for the film. The first two cases go by pretty quick, especially the first one. They are supposed to be at the house for an hour, but we see a grand total of fifteen minutes. This was a bit too fast just because there are so many characters being introduced and a lot was going on. I didn't have a problem with the cases. They weren't the most interesting cases in the world, but they worked for this type of film. I didn't like how they felt rushed through, with even the last case feeling that way at times. I did like that in between the cases, we got to watch them hanging out and getting to know each other better. This helps us get to know them as well. We don't find out a whole lot about most of the team, although two of them end up falling in love. Ryane is the most fleshed out character, which could explain why the actress playing that character has a writing credit. We learn about her past a little bit. Just enough to explain why she is into the paranormal. I thought that this could have been expanded on more, since it just one moment in her life and then it is dropped. It might have to do with how things ended, but it was hard to say if that was the case or not. One thing that really bugged me is the ghost from the first story. It appears twice, in the first and third story or case, I guess I should say. This ghost sounded a lot like a demon, which is what they first thought it was. It was just weird to present the ghost that way, in both stories, as I don't know any women that talk that way, alive or dead.
Even though some people die, there wasn't anything as far as effects go. One thing I found funny about the deaths is that the person's name and their job on the team would be shown in the corner of the screen while showing them dead. Not sure why they did that because at that point in the story, we pretty much already knew everyone. The acting is average at best. I never thought of anyone as great at any time to be honest. Jessica D. Fulling isn't too bad in the lead role. The rest of the actors playing the parts of the rest of the team is very mixed with their acting. Each seemed to have a scene where I thought their acting wasn't half bad, but those were few and far between. The supporting actors are not all that great.
I did like that the first and last stories ended up being connected. The last story was a little confusing as well as the main ghost was named after a demon which actually plays into the story. So again, we get a ghost that acts like a demon, but maybe this one was the real deal...or maybe not. It seemed like the real deal, but so did the other ghost. That was the main reason I didn't like Evidence Of A Haunting, it just couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to be more about demons or just ghosts. Combine that with the acting and the pacing issues and it just wasn't a very good movie. I won't give it my lowest score just because there were things that I thought was interesting about it, even if they were very few. I guess it depends on the kind of movie you are looking for, but this isn't one I would probably tell my friends to check out. It is kind of good for a laugh at times though, so there is that to think about.
2 out of 5 I want to go explore some tunnels!
