The Horror Show
Visions
by Kevin Greutert
Isla Fisher, Jim Parsons, and Eva Longoria. Not the kind of cast one would expect in a horror movie of the paranormal sub-genre. For some, that would be enough reason to not bother watching Visions, whereas for others, such as myself, it is an intriguing factor despite the rather low scores online.
Visions is a horror movie that touches the boundaries of the supernatural realm as gently as possible, trying to be scary, but failing on several levels. The story follows Eveleigh (Isla Fisher) and her husband David (Anson Mount) who invest everything they have on a vineyard and move to the countryside. No self-respecting movie would show a lead actress without any sort of psychological troubles, therefore, we see Eveleigh battling her depression following a horrific car accident that happened the year before.
Since she’s three months pregnant, Eveleigh decides to stop taking her medication, despite her husband’s, doctor’s (Jim Parsons), and best friend’s (Eva Longoria) persistence not to do so. Things get even worse, when she starts experiencing strange visions inside their new home.
Terrified that her house is haunted by malicious spirits, Eveleigh constantly tries to convince her husband that something is going really wrong, but - as it usually goes - David grows increasingly worried for her state of mind.
Clichéd haunting scenes that are not even scary, accompanied by continuous eerie music, do most of the damage in in this film. As a viewer, you can’t stop feeling that you’ve seen such scenes thousands of times before, and certainly delivered in a much more successful manner. It takes a lot of time for Visions to reach a climax, and by the time it does so, it’s already too late.
Fisher is trying really hard to portray the distressed mother-to-be and given we’re not used to seeing her in such roles, she is doing quite a decent job. On the other hand, the remaining cast feels completely random and as if the choices were absolutely not well-thought.
The ending is probably the only thing worth waiting for. Director Kevin Greutert left the good stuff for the end, but after such an exhausting 70 minutes or so, it doesn’t even matter. Yearning for a heartbeat, Visions is deprived of any soul and tension. It’s a shame, though, as the few plot twists towards the end are particularly satisfying, but after all, having watched every single trope in the horror genre, how excited can you really get?
Maria Kriva, HMS
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