As I’ve always said, what connects me with a good Ghost Story are a few key elements.
First, I have to care about the players. It’s like in sport: you have a team you want to root for. Horror films are the same: you have to connect with the potential victims or else. For the purposes of this story (and this story alone), these people have to mean something to me. I should attach to them not necessarily to care about them, but yet I should minimally be invested in their survival.
Second, I have to care about the setting. Old houses have always been solid foundations upon which to erect damn near anything connected to the paranormal, so that should be reasonably easy pickings, as they say. Their design alone is often times half the fun. Yeah, it might be formulaic, but that doesn’t mean it won’t achieve the necessary results.
Lastly, I have to understand the mythology. This isn’t to say that I agree with it because, frankly, I rarely do. My point here is that if I can’t grasp clearly and cleanly how all of these pieces are intended to fit together, then the core adventure always risks leaving me on an island, stranded in the middle of this spooky ocean, not knowing what’s next. Characters can feel this way, but I – as the viewer – shouldn’t. Ever.
While these might sound like easy steps toward modest storytelling success, I suspect that writer/director Nicholas Bain would still support them. Again, this isn’t to say that his Voice Of Shadows (2023) reaches this respectably low bar, but the effort was obviously there. This independent chiller musters up some of the right stuff in a few spots, using an old but not-quite-gothic mansion as the centerpiece for an affordable look at spirits – both living and dead – in transition. Still, it’s a pretty far cry from what I’ve seen accomplished elsewhere with even less capital being invested, and the flick ends without effectively meeting, perhaps, two out of three of my above requirements.
As such, I was disappointed … but I still respect the effort.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A young working-class woman stands to inherit an estate if she and her boyfriend abide by a set of bizarre stipulations.”
One needn’t go to great lengths to fashion a good Horror flick.
Granted, all productions need some hook – some creative device that entices the audience to pay closer attention – and this isn’t as easy as it sounds. What titillates you may not be what titillates me; and yet Horror – unlike other genres – truly operates economically by employing the leanest and meanest of structures to start the proverbial ball rolling. It has to, otherwise it risks failing right out of the opening frames.
On that level, Voice Of Shadows excels. Well … mostly.
We’re introduced to a slim cast of characters: Gabriel (played by Guillermo Blanco) has come to America in pursuit of a better life, bringing his sister Celeste (María José Vargas Agudelo) along for the ride. He’s found love in the arms of the fetching Emma (Corrinne Mica), a free spirit who stays close to her aging Aunt Milda (Jane Hammill), a somewhat bitter woman who harbors some bad opinions of the young man. But when Milda passes suddenly, all their lives are about to change as Emma stands to inherit her aunt’s old house on the condition that she lives there while Gabriel cannot.
First, I have to care about the players. It’s like in sport: you have a team you want to root for. Horror films are the same: you have to connect with the potential victims or else. For the purposes of this story (and this story alone), these people have to mean something to me. I should attach to them not necessarily to care about them, but yet I should minimally be invested in their survival.
Second, I have to care about the setting. Old houses have always been solid foundations upon which to erect damn near anything connected to the paranormal, so that should be reasonably easy pickings, as they say. Their design alone is often times half the fun. Yeah, it might be formulaic, but that doesn’t mean it won’t achieve the necessary results.
Lastly, I have to understand the mythology. This isn’t to say that I agree with it because, frankly, I rarely do. My point here is that if I can’t grasp clearly and cleanly how all of these pieces are intended to fit together, then the core adventure always risks leaving me on an island, stranded in the middle of this spooky ocean, not knowing what’s next. Characters can feel this way, but I – as the viewer – shouldn’t. Ever.
While these might sound like easy steps toward modest storytelling success, I suspect that writer/director Nicholas Bain would still support them. Again, this isn’t to say that his Voice Of Shadows (2023) reaches this respectably low bar, but the effort was obviously there. This independent chiller musters up some of the right stuff in a few spots, using an old but not-quite-gothic mansion as the centerpiece for an affordable look at spirits – both living and dead – in transition. Still, it’s a pretty far cry from what I’ve seen accomplished elsewhere with even less capital being invested, and the flick ends without effectively meeting, perhaps, two out of three of my above requirements.
As such, I was disappointed … but I still respect the effort.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A young working-class woman stands to inherit an estate if she and her boyfriend abide by a set of bizarre stipulations.”
One needn’t go to great lengths to fashion a good Horror flick.
Granted, all productions need some hook – some creative device that entices the audience to pay closer attention – and this isn’t as easy as it sounds. What titillates you may not be what titillates me; and yet Horror – unlike other genres – truly operates economically by employing the leanest and meanest of structures to start the proverbial ball rolling. It has to, otherwise it risks failing right out of the opening frames.
On that level, Voice Of Shadows excels. Well … mostly.
We’re introduced to a slim cast of characters: Gabriel (played by Guillermo Blanco) has come to America in pursuit of a better life, bringing his sister Celeste (María José Vargas Agudelo) along for the ride. He’s found love in the arms of the fetching Emma (Corrinne Mica), a free spirit who stays close to her aging Aunt Milda (Jane Hammill), a somewhat bitter woman who harbors some bad opinions of the young man. But when Milda passes suddenly, all their lives are about to change as Emma stands to inherit her aunt’s old house on the condition that she lives there while Gabriel cannot.
While that is an interesting hook, indeed, my issues with it start to grow when there’s just not a significant enough explanation behind it for me to suspend all disbelief. Clearly, Milda showed behaviors of disliking the young man; and, yet, Bain’s script never quite nails a relevant enough reason for such life-altering disdain. Granted, we do come to learn that the old crone’s embrace of dark magic puts her at odds with Gabriel’s faith; but my problem with it is that the film never really invested much time or effort in showing Gabriel as a man of spiritual faith. He wears a cross. He blesses himself accordingly when entering a church or sanctuary. He even goes to confessional in a curious set-up that ultimately feels a bit disassociated from Voice’s wider story. However, that’s it … and I found it far too little.
Similarly, Celeste and Emma serve more like cardboard cut-outs who act a certain way more because that’s how they were written than how authentic women behave. Without greater substance or scenes to define their respective personalities, the two never quite shake that feeling of being characters in search of a story; thank God an evil presence inevitably shows up because otherwise they’d really have nothing else to do but sleep and thumb through Milda’s book of evil! A bit more dialogue or a bit more casual exploration of who they are and what they stood for might’ve alleviated a good portion of this blandness, but – as is – the duo remain paper thin.
Complicating matters a bit further, I never quite grasped what Milda’s end goal to all of this was.
In a general sense, there are enough suggestions in place to lead me to accept that the woman wanted to transcend death itself. The film’s best device – a rotary phone that magically seems to stay in contact with both the living and the deceased – implies that she’d already kinda/sorta achieved a level of transcendence as things were; so – ahem – did she just want a fresh young body with her coopting of Emma? The discussions of possession and the like strongly denote that a rebirth was sought, but there’s a last seen showing her spirit still kinda/sorta being embraced by an evil priest anyway – Father John (Michael Paul Levin) – which led me to conclude that she lives on even without a body … so what was all of the fuss really about?
Without being sufficiently drawn into this world with these specific players and understanding fully what the stakes were, I’m left pondering what it was all trying to say about life, the universe, and the thereafter. Bain’s visuals aren’t enough to answer these fundamentals, and a vastly better script with far more characterization would be required to make this thing anything more than just a casual 90-minute experience. Ghosts with little dimension are one thing, and living people with even less definition kill the mood whenever tried.
Voice Of Shadows (2023) was produced by Ark Entertainment and TheGseven. According to a quick Google.com search, the film is presently available for digital purchase via Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be pretty exceptional from start-to-finish: there are some mild Special Effects in the last reel that are a bit obvious, but they don’t distract from the overall experience. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
In fairness, Voice Of Shadows (2023) isn’t a bad film. In fact, writer/director Bain occasionally manages to create enough supernatural mystery to make some of the smaller moments work just fine. The problem I had with it is that – as a whole – it’s far too opaque in far too many ways – i.e. undefined (if not unnecessary) characters, insufficient character development, unexplained scenes, and inadequate tension – so I wind up not really caring about any of its protagonists. When I’m not swept up away with any attachment to them, then their respective plights just don’t matter; and this uncentered procedural feels a bit too ‘color by numbers’ as a consequence. Sure, it’s expertly made … but in the grand scheme of things I’m still left feeling as empty as was this big haunted house.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Ark Entertainment provided me with complimentary streaming access to Voice Of Shadows (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Similarly, Celeste and Emma serve more like cardboard cut-outs who act a certain way more because that’s how they were written than how authentic women behave. Without greater substance or scenes to define their respective personalities, the two never quite shake that feeling of being characters in search of a story; thank God an evil presence inevitably shows up because otherwise they’d really have nothing else to do but sleep and thumb through Milda’s book of evil! A bit more dialogue or a bit more casual exploration of who they are and what they stood for might’ve alleviated a good portion of this blandness, but – as is – the duo remain paper thin.
Complicating matters a bit further, I never quite grasped what Milda’s end goal to all of this was.
In a general sense, there are enough suggestions in place to lead me to accept that the woman wanted to transcend death itself. The film’s best device – a rotary phone that magically seems to stay in contact with both the living and the deceased – implies that she’d already kinda/sorta achieved a level of transcendence as things were; so – ahem – did she just want a fresh young body with her coopting of Emma? The discussions of possession and the like strongly denote that a rebirth was sought, but there’s a last seen showing her spirit still kinda/sorta being embraced by an evil priest anyway – Father John (Michael Paul Levin) – which led me to conclude that she lives on even without a body … so what was all of the fuss really about?
Without being sufficiently drawn into this world with these specific players and understanding fully what the stakes were, I’m left pondering what it was all trying to say about life, the universe, and the thereafter. Bain’s visuals aren’t enough to answer these fundamentals, and a vastly better script with far more characterization would be required to make this thing anything more than just a casual 90-minute experience. Ghosts with little dimension are one thing, and living people with even less definition kill the mood whenever tried.
Voice Of Shadows (2023) was produced by Ark Entertainment and TheGseven. According to a quick Google.com search, the film is presently available for digital purchase via Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be pretty exceptional from start-to-finish: there are some mild Special Effects in the last reel that are a bit obvious, but they don’t distract from the overall experience. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
In fairness, Voice Of Shadows (2023) isn’t a bad film. In fact, writer/director Bain occasionally manages to create enough supernatural mystery to make some of the smaller moments work just fine. The problem I had with it is that – as a whole – it’s far too opaque in far too many ways – i.e. undefined (if not unnecessary) characters, insufficient character development, unexplained scenes, and inadequate tension – so I wind up not really caring about any of its protagonists. When I’m not swept up away with any attachment to them, then their respective plights just don’t matter; and this uncentered procedural feels a bit too ‘color by numbers’ as a consequence. Sure, it’s expertly made … but in the grand scheme of things I’m still left feeling as empty as was this big haunted house.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Ark Entertainment provided me with complimentary streaming access to Voice Of Shadows (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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