Voice from the Grave

Voice from the Grave isn't a great movie, but it ends up being quite a fascinating one. It's pretty much strictly a TV movie with the associated and expected production standards ... meaning nothing out of the ordinary, The acting will not live in my memory by any means and Megan Ward, who plays the female lead of Renee Perkins is especially pedestrian. But the story, which is a lightly fictionalised account of the real life Voice from the Grave Chicago police case is quite gripping.

A segment from the Unsolved Mysteries TV series inspired this story, in which a respiratory therapist (Megan Ward) claims that she is possessed by a murdered co-worker's spirit which identifies the killer. Ironically this particular mystery ended up being solved with the killer admitting his guilt.

The movie updates the crime and its aftermath from the late 70's to the mid 90's and changes the nationalities of some of the major players from Filipino to Caucasian Americans, as well as condensing some events (E.G. There was a mis-trial) to save time and maintain dramatic pace. Apart from that and some obvious name changes, the movie's narrative follows the real life timeline of events in just about all aspects, right down to oddities such as Renee and Bill Perkins, being witnesses (hostile I presume) for the defence, rather than the prosecution.

At various intervals, the film turns characters into talking heads, who speak directly to the camera, about their experiences. This doesn't really work and interrupts the pacing and tone, as we know they are actors playing out roles and not real life characters involved in a documentary. But the storyline which involves the ghost of the murdered Terry Deveroux appearing in visions and occasionally possessing the body of Renee Perkins, in an effort to achieve her payback to the killer, will undoubtedly be enough to carry most viewers through to the somewhat unexpected climax. Although I'd previously never heard of this somewhat celebrated case, I was pleased to have the opportunity of seeing this movie.

In Chicago, the nurse Terry Deveroux (Kim Dickens) is murdered at home in a sadistic way. Renne Perkins (Megan Ward) is her colleague in Lakeshore Hospital and had just one contact with her a couple of days before. Renne is married to Bill Perkins (John Telersky), a resident surgeon in the hospital, and both are fighting together to improve in live. The residence of Bill is close to the end and he expects to be hired by the direction of the hospital. However, Renne is possessed by Terry spirit, who claims for justice. The acceptance of this situation challenges the logical formation of the couple, and they come up to a dilemma: shall they go to the police and expose that strange situation or not?

"Voice from the Grave" is a TV movie with a great screenplay that will certainly surprise the viewer. Mystery, crime, suspense, drama, all of these ingredients are mixed in right doses in the plot. The cast and direction are sharp. The end of this film could be shorter and disappoints a little bit, but the credit informs that this would be indeed a true story. If the viewer likes supernatural movies like 'The Sixth Sense', he or she will certainly enjoy this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vozes do Além" ("Voices From Beyond")

Note: On 12 June 2022, I saw this film again.

The amazing thing about this film is that it is actually a true story. Terry Deveroux is a nurse and night club singer who is preparing for her evening performance when someone visits her, strangles her, knifes her och burns her after having made some effort to make it look that she was raped. As her apartment burns, there are no clues left for the police. But as a nurse she had colleagues, and one of them, who recently had a miscarriage, is visited by Terry from beyond the grave, and she at times actually becomes Terry, remembering every detail of her own murder. During these sessions of being possessed by her friend, Rene Perkins is unconscious, but her husband is understanding and realizes the facts of the case. The police do the rest, and during the ensuing trials, even the murderer gets some taste of the visits from beyond the grave.

It is well done with interviews with the actual persons, interfoliated between the proceedings. Which add to the authenticity and almost documentary character of the film. The actors are perfectly convincing, and there are no disturbing extra effects, as the authenticity needs no extra dramatization. On the whole, it is surprisingly good and well worth adding to the canon of good films.

I was hoping to purchase this movie Dvd form. But I'm unable to locate this movie anywhere! Even through Lifetime which is where I happened to watch it! This Movie is so hard to find!!

Even though this movie is based on a true story, it takes a few liberties. The victim was a Phillipine immigrant named Teresita Basa. Not Terry Devereaux. The nurse who was haunted by the victims voice, and her husband, were immigrants from India. But more important, the murderer was a black man, which gave the case a bit of a racial element.

This murder happened in Chicago, and the jury was a mostly black jury. Had the murderer not confessed, the jury was ready to convict him on a lesser charge, and he would have been given a light sentence. Unfortunately, the plea bargain allowed a sentence that was much too light for the crime he committed. He is probably back on the street right now. Maybe that's why the victims name was changed. Her family flew in from the Phillipines for the trial, and they were shocked at the punishment that we allowed in America, for murder.