White Noise 2 – The Light  

Review: written 2007

Effective chills, Ineffective storyline

It's a shame that when someone goes to such lengths to create a spooky old fashioned thriller, they forget to fill in the glaring pot holes on their road to success... for that is what has derailed this otherwise above-par chiller.

This film has no connection to its predecessor, so can and should be taken on its own merits. Nathan Fillion (better known as his Hans Solo-Lite character from Firefly and Serenity) sees his wife and child murdered in front of him, and subsequently decides to end his own life. He is resuscitated but in the process has a near death experience.. oh wait, I should call that an NDE, as any important plot point seems to require a Three Letter Abbreviation in this movie.. which allows him to hear EVP (don't ask, it's just a tenuous connection to the first movie) and see `The Light', which indicates people who are about to become DOA. What at first looks like an opportunity to help, becomes a dark and dangerous road, ultimately leading him to understand his wife and child's death. Along the way, he meets Katee Sackhoff, another survivor from cult TV land, in this case Battlestar Galactica. She does ok, but her acting range seems to be 99 shades of smiles, without actually emoting much. I hope both she and Fillion find a vehicle more worthy of their talents. Aside from a great set piece multiple death involving a piano, there are no real stand out scenes that could make the movie more memorable, unfortunately.. and the jump in your seat moments work, but are the sort of easy trick that glosses over lack of imagination.

So the plot is full of holes, and effects barely up to scratch (though at least not over relied on), but on the plus side there are some effective jump-in-your-seat moments and the acting is fine. The acting is good enough to raise the tone of the movie, until the disappointing ending dooms the movie to not-good-enough territory. It's not a complete train wreck though, and if you are a horror completist or a Fillion fan, go ahead and watch - it's not the worst movie you'll see this year. Otherwise, would it be too obvious to say.. stay away from The Light..?