After the death of her childhood friend, seventeen year old Sarah Landon (Rissa Walters) visits her grandmother, Thelma Shaw (Jane Harris), in the small town of Pine Valley, California. Sarah is reacquainted with Matt Baker (Dan Comrie), the boy with whom she shared her first kiss, and becomes involved in ghostly goings-on involving his family. Matt’s brother David (Brian Comrie) lives in mortal fear believing his late uncle, Ben Woods (Rusty Hanes) will return from beyond the grave to kill him on his 21st birthday, now just a few days away. Years before, their mother (Nicole Des Coteaux) was responsible for Johnny Woods’ (Rick Comrie) accidental death in a car crash and his father swore revenge. Now living as a recluse, obsessed with the supernatural, David comes to believe that new kid in town Justin Van Kamp (Kendell Lindley) is the reincarnation of Ben Woods…
In the spirit of Goosebumps, this is a low-budget, independent spooky movie aimed at children and young teens who crave something spine-tingling for Halloween but nothing too disturbing. On paper there is much to admire: it’s a rare movie made outside the Hollywood system that scored a theatrical release and is very much a family affair. Debuting director Lisa Comrie adapts a story conceived by her uncle, co-produces with and casts her siblings in leading roles, while several other members of the Comrie clan pop up amongst the crew. Even leading lady Rissa Walters is a long-time friend. What’s more, PG-rated scary movies for kids are a genre ripe with potential untapped by independent filmmakers looking for a sure-fire audience. Sadly, all the good will in the world cannot disguise that Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour is a woefully anaemic affair.
Its biggest problem lies with Nancy Drew wannabe Sarah Landon, who scarcely does anything to justify her inclusion in the title. Compared to the dead weight supporting cast, Walters is a personable lead but essays a character so passive and who has so little effect upon the story’s eventual outcome, one hesitates to call her a heroine at all. Throughout the film Sarah has flashbacks to happier days with her deceased friend Megan, presumably to underscore feelings of loss, grief and guilt that bind her to both the Baker family and the vengeful ghost. Yet the script makes no such connection, leaving Sarah an inexplicable add-on in a story that was meant to launch a franchise. Like the Mexican psychic who keeps making cryptic phone-calls, Sarah’s back-story is another wispy thread the plot stubbornly refuses to tie together.
Comrie directs with a propensity for things jumping into frame, which quickly grows ridiculous through overuse, but otherwise assembles a handsome, professional-looking production. Which is something that can’t be said for a lot of adult-oriented indie horrors. Teen viewers are still liable to find this well below Nickelodeon standards and unsuspecting horror fans who pick this up expecting a fright-fest will be positively livid, although there is a slight frisson to the climax when nice granny Thelma goes crazy with a shotgun. It ends with the suggestion of a sequel, which given its low box-office and critical mauling would be a surprise, but should the unlikely happen the Comrie clan will have to seriously up their game.
