Living with the Dead (2002)

A man begins to have disturbing visions of dead people, among whom are his mother and victims of a local serial killer. The detective investigating the murders looks to him for help in solving the case.

Director:

Stephen Gyllenhaal

Writers:

James Van Praagh (book), John Pielmeier

Stars:

Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Diane Ladd

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ted Danson	...	James Van Praagh
Mary Steenburgen	...	Detective Karen Condrin
Diane Ladd	...	Regina Van Praagh
Michael Moriarty	...	Adrian, Psychic
Donna White
Connor Widdows	...	Young James Van Praagh
Joy Coghill	...	Mrs. Ziff
Jay Brazeau	...	Psychiatrist
Maggie Blue O'Hara	...	Sandy - Andy's deaf sister
Queen Latifah	...	Midge Harmon
Jack Palance	...	Allan Van Praagh
Reece Thompson	...	Andy, Abducted Boy
Neil Denis	...	Dennis Branston
Mikela Jay	...	Young Regina Van Praagh (as Mikela J. Mikael)
Eric Breker	...	Young Allan Van Praagh

Storyline

A man begins to have disturbing visions of dead people, among whom are his mother and victims of a local serial killer. The detective investigating the murders looks to him for help in solving the case.

---

Plot Keywords:

detective | murder | guilt | catholic | buried alive | 

---

Taglines:

The dead are talking. One man is listening.

---

Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content, and thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Talking to Heaven

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nitelite Entertainment,CBS,Gaslight Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Van Praagh, the author of the book this film is based on and real-life version of Ted Danson's character, appears in this film as the organ player.

---

Connections

References The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986)

User Reviews

Best made for TV movie I have ever seen...

"Living With The Dead" is an excellent and very compelling film. I am not a huge fan of horror films and I hated "The Sixth Sense" for some odd reason, anyway when I first saw this film advertised on CBS I promised myself that I would resist at all costs and watch "Taxi Driver" on DVD instead, but then this made for television film started and to my surprise I was totally involved with the story and felt a connection to the character of James (I don't see dead people, if that's what you're thinking). I sat there by the tv totally mesmerised by this spectacular story. The story, directing, dialoge, acting, and suspence are all top-notch. I really loved the performances in this mini-series, I thought every actor played his/her part perfectly, but there are two people that I was really impressed with, when I saw the previews I didn't expect much out of Queen Latifa because I never really considered her to be an "actress", but she was just excellent in this film, gave me a newfound respect for what she does. The other performance I was surprised by was given by Ted Danson. You see I have always thought of Danson as a comedic genius because of his work from "Cheers" and most recently "Becker", but I have never thought of him as a dramatic actor so I didn't expect much from him either, but once again I was taken by surprise as this man really became the character and played the part perfectly. He was extraordinary in this movie.

Bottomline: It's a really great film that I hope to see again sometime.

Final-Grade: 8/10