Behind The Wall (2009)
Reviewed by The Foywonder
Starring Lindy Booth, James Thomas, Lawrence Dane, Andy Jones, Brad Hodder, Suzie Pollard, Jody Richardson
Directed by Paul Schneider
Behind the Wall is a very old fashioned ghost movie that relies more on mood and atmosphere and a slow-burning sense of dread than cheap scares and gory deaths. I would hail it as a refreshing change of pace if not for the suspense being so low-key it borders on no-key and every aspect of the writing, directing, and acting being drier than the Sahara.
Lindy Booth (Cry Wolf, Dawn of the Dead) stars as Katelyn Parks, a young woman returning to her tranquil seaside Maine hometown for the first time in nearly 20 years since her mother was murdered and her father was convicted of the crime. They lived in the local lighthouse, which has remained abandoned ever since. The town is strapped for cash and wants to reopen the lighthouse as a tourist attraction.
Of course there has to be an old priest opposed to the reopening of the lighthouse who constantly makes vague insistences that it must remain closed. And of course nobody in town is willing to listen to him except for Katelyn. Handsome developer Drew is also willing to listen, but only because he has eyes for Katelyn.
I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to tell you there is indeed a poltergeist inhabiting the house and it may have had something to do with the death of Katelyn’s mother. I also don’t think it’s spoiling anything to tell you bad things begin happening to those that enter the lighthouse, especially the basement – fatal phantasmal face scratching ahoy! Nor would I consider it a spoiler to state that the motivation behind the ghost’s murderous intent doesn’t really add up if you think about it.
How do we know there’s a poltergeist on the loose? Because it makes Halloween spookhouse moaning noises an awful lot. The filmmakers expected us to get the willies by the sound of low moaning. I told you this movie is very old fashioned.
Behind the Wall bills itself as being from the writer of Poltergeist. What they don’t tell you is that the writer of Poltergeist only produced the film. The film itself has little in common with that 1982 horror classic; more like a Lifetime Network supernatural thriller with above-average camera work. I know people that will argue with you that Poltergeist is a dull film by today’s standards. Just wait until those people see Behind the Wall.
I suggest you give this one to your grandma while you go into another room to watch a horror movie she wouldn’t approve of.
1 1/2 out of 5
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