Presence

Diehard fans of horror films have often complained that releases in this genre don’t get the kind of respect they deserve, almost as if they’re the Rodney Dangerfield of moviemaking. Unfortunately, it’s a reputation that’s frequently deserved given that many of these offerings are formulaic, predictable, tedious and needlessly gratuitous. The emergence of “smart” horror films has helped to offset this somewhat, imbuing these pictures with a degree of maturity and respectability that has long been sought but lacking. But, if these films truly want to earn the kind of esteem that their followers crave, these productions have to get better at doing what they do, yet the efforts that go into yielding such results all too often come up short, as is the case in this latest project from acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh. In all honesty, this attempt at creating an elevated version of a prototypical haunted house story leaves much to be desired. When a family of four moves into their new suburban home, strange happenings begin to occur, nearly all of which affect Chloe (Callina Liang), a troubled teen who recently lost her best friend under mysterious circumstances. But she’s not alone in her troubles – her parents, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan), are having marital problems and her older brother, Tyler (Eddy Maday), is wrestling with behavioral and attitude issues. It’s unclear what’s really going on with everybody, but then that’s where the problem lies with this largely unfocused snooze, one that does little justice to its label as a horror film. For starters, much of it is boring and slow, especially at the outset, taking its own sweet time to get off the ground (almost half of the movie in fact). Then there’s the lame and often-cryptic dialogue, which fails miserably at encouraging viewer engagement or moving the narrative along. And, perhaps most egregiously, the picture drops the ball when it comes to what movies in this genre are supposed to do – provide the audience with good frights. In fact, there’s precious little in this film that can be considered “scary”; it’s more suspenseful, if anything, but even that is significantly watered down. Finally, when “the big reveal” comes, it’s not so much frightful as it is implausible and of questionable taste – wholly inappropriate for and not particularly in the spirit of what should constitute a good haunted house story. The result is a huge cinematic disappointment, one that makes viewers wonder what the point of it all is supposed to be. Admittedly, the film features some intriguing camera work, but it ultimately does little to shed meaningful light on the narrative, particularly in “depicting” the mysterious presence responsible for all of the supernatural goings-on and its relevance to the characters or the intent behind this story. I must confess to being somewhat baffled by the filmmaker’s involvement in this project as its quality is a far cry from that of most of his previous efforts. Even more so, though, “Presence” does little to move the needle in bolstering the reputation of a genre looking to make a better name for itself. I’ve seen scarier and more compelling TV commercials than this woefully anemic offering, and, because of that, it’s done little to change my opinion of movies of this ilk.