So Bad They Named it Twice!
When I first sat down to watch The Seance Hour: Evil Unleashed, I thought the name very familiar and sounded like a questionable little film I’d heard of a while back. After a bit of research I found the offending title of which I speak. None other than Evil Unleashed: The Seance Hour. See what they did there? Crafty devils. It’s the same film, of course, except they former at least has names attached to it, but unfortunately the story and some of the performances are no doubt the same. The special effects will probably be just as bad and the meandering tale that doesn’t settle into anything cohesive will also be there. Oh, and the swishy sound that accompanies the special FX, and we’re meant to guess what the hell is going on while all the shenanigans is attempting to confuse the living sh … crap out of us.
- The Seance Hour: Evil Unleashed
- Directed by
George Scileppe - Cast
Sewell Whitney, Yuri Lowenthal, Kristin Pfeifer - Release Date
2013 - Ed’s Grade: D+
The Seance Hour: Evil Unleashed, tells the story of Reality-TV seance show that’s basically a scam (what a surprise!) and unknown to the hostess who’s a genuine medium, Madame Camille, actors are used alongside the actual participants. What Camille doesn’t realise is that she actually has the gift and hasn’t ever really believed it. Just like in Ghost, when Whoopi Goldberg’s Oda Mae Brown finds out she can really talk to Patrick Swayze!
To try to boost the ratings for the crappy show, the producer invites some creepy priest with a dark secret. He also insists on being addressed as Father Professor. The producer thinks that if he can get the psycho priest … sorry, the “Father Professor” to confess his murderous sins on air, they’ll boost the ratings enough to get better pay. A demon is unwittingly unleashed and spends most of the film rushing about like a bad acid trip but never being clear on its intentions. The seance finally happens but does the “Father Professor” tell all? Tune in next week to find out.
*****
This wasn’t a good movie I’m afraid with nothing happening to hold my interest. There were tedious attempts at drama where the producer bangs his secretary but gets caught by his main squeeze. (How thoroughly original). The main problem was the story itself as it was simply boring, and when the big reveal happens at the end, I’d lost the will to live to even care who the spirit was. The cheesy ending with Camille was almost vomit-inducing too, as she gave the motherly, kindly, forgiving crap instead of opening a can of whoopass on them and putting some life into this anemic, vacuous dreck. This would have been better as a horror/comedy and instead of just a couple of them hamming it up, they could all have had fun with it.
Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
