Director: Daric Gates
Writer: Daric Gates, Matthew J Ryan (Screenplay)
Starring: Will Wallace, Dean Cain, Don Swayze, Quinton Aaron, Emily Brooks, Wolfgang Bodison
Plot: A woman once possessed by a mysterious entity uncovers a shocking secret about her past and must face the demon that dwells inside of her.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Terrible ‘Horror’
Story: The Appearing starts with the school kids giving us the information about the haunted house and the truth about what happened there, because back story. we move onto meeting our main characters, Michael (Wallace) who is the new deputy escaping the big city with his wife Rachel (Brooks) to work under Sheriff Hendricks (Swayze).
The first day on the job Michael finds himself working a missing persons case when one of the high school girls has gone missing, while his wife is dealing with her own grief from their tragic loss back in the big city.
When the mystery seems to be connected, the answers might well be found in the mental home where Dr Shaw (Cain) or Father Callahan (Bodison) both know about the history of the town.
Thoughts on The Appearing
Characters/Performance – Michael is the deputy that is trying to start a new life with his wife after the tragedy. He snaps easily when questioning subjects and not as friendly when it comes to dealing with the town’s people. Dr Shaw is the good doctor caring about his patients but otherwise plays the science side of the supernatural idea. Sheriff Hendricks has a good relationship with the town’s people but also has a dark past. Rachel is the wife of Michael who is suffering through the paranormal side of the story while dealing with the loss of their child.
Performance wise, well here is the questions because none of the cast are very convincing in the film, which full takes us out of the story involved.
Story – The story here is also a problem, we spend way too much time with the missing persons case that when we finally get to see the bigger picture of the previous incident within the story. if we had started with this story I feel we would understand the connection earlier and be waiting for the twists in the past story too.
Horror/Mystery – There isn’t much horror going on here and the mystery angle is very misleading taking us in a direction we don’t need to go before the final outcome.
Settings – The small-town setting is fine but not used to the full effect other than some beautiful shots early on.
Special Effects – The special effects are all mostly flashing lights and never become believable as the story is unfolding.
Final Thoughts – This was just bad, bad storytelling, bad acting and bad idea.
Overall: Appearing, I wish it was Disappearing.
Rating
