Seance: The Summoning (2011)

Four friends decide to record themselves having a séance. When they summon a demon by mistake they'll have to find a way to drive the demon out before it destroys them all.

Director:

Alex Wright

Writer:

Alex Wright

Stars:

Bobby Campo, Nazneen Contractor, Chris Olivero

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bobby Campo	...	Joey
Nazneen Contractor	...	Eva
Chris Olivero	...	Marcus
Devon Ogden	...	Sara
Sin Halo Jude Pfaff	...	Baby
Cortney Palm	...	Mutilated Woman (as Courtney Palm)
Theo Kokiousis	...	Student
Camille Knauer	...	Student
Morgan Thornsley	...	Student
Tyler Thornsley	...	Student
Sam Fine	...	Student
Hannah Ruben	...	Student
Chad Singer	...	Student
Victoria Fayad	...	Student
Justin Lieberman	...	Student

Storyline

After a loudmouth college punk singer accuses an amateur medium of being a fake, four college students break into the city morgue and video themselves holding a seance. When the kids summon a demon by mistake, they have to find a way to drive the demon out of their friend before it destroys them all.

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Plot Keywords:

morgue | seance | holy water | neck cracking | nude woman | 

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Taglines:

Dare to Play

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence, pervasive language, some drug use and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 2012 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Berkshire Axis Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Sara hurts her leg, she uses a "cane", but clearly she is using the "cane" on the wrong side of her body. With her left leg being hurt, she should use the "cane" on her left side, but she uses it on her right side the entire time.

User Reviews

A small dose of subtle terror can go a long way...

Initially I have to say that having read some review for this movie, I was preparing myself for a boring movie, but still I am not really one to turn off movies unless they are beyond boring, and I did find the plot of the story interesting, so despite the bad reviews, I sat down to watch "Seance".

I don't understand why it got so bad reviews, because I didn't find the movie that bad. Sure it was not a million dollar Hollywood movie, but still it was to the point and it had a good enough story to tell. "Seance" is about four young people going to a city morgue, where one of them works as a security guard, to have a seance (hence the name of the movie) in order to call up the spirit of the dead. Something goes awry and something dark is called forth.

The storyline was compelling and it was good at building up suspense and thrills. Now, don't expect to be scared, because it is not that kind of horror movie. Instead, it is the type of movie that builds on brooding atmosphere and subtle terror.

Personally, I found there was a little too much Christian propaganda in the movie. But hey, dealing with evil presences, I suppose that is what people think they need to turn to.

The people cast for the movie did good enough jobs, two people stand out and carries the movie entirely; that being Bobby Campo (playing Joey) and Nazneen Contractor (playing Eva). Their performances were really great, and came off really believable.

One thing that I didn't understand about the movie was if the entity that was called forth had been waiting 200 years for a mortal vessel to possess, why did it speak 21st century American English and not 19th century American English? If they had kept it that way, the movie would have had so much more credibility. And also, a cool touch to the possession would have been if the possessed individual spoke with those voices simultaneously.

"Seance" is a toned down version of "The Exorcist" and it would appeal to today's audience, and perhaps even instill a curiosity to further explore the market for possession-style movies and return to the 'classics'.

"Seance" is well worth a watch if you like movies that have a brooding atmosphere and builds up subtle terror, instead of being all gory and trying to be as brutal as possible. And speaking of gore, then there were actually some nice enough scenes with blood and injuries in "Seance". Thumbs up for that. And the story takes place in a city morgue, that just adds so much to the setting, and that was really a nice touch.