DVD Review: FADING OF THE CRIES

FADING OF THE CRIES

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: minutes, featurette, trailer

VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, Spanish

STUDIO: Lionsgate/ Underhill Entertainment/ Neca Films/ Ratio Pictures

RELEASE DATE: 11-15-2011

STARRING Brad Dourif (Mathias), Thomas Ian Nicholas (Michael), Mackenzie Rosman (Jill), Hallee Hirsh (Sarah), Elaine Hendrix (Maggie), Jordan Matthews (Jacob)

WRITTEN and DIRECTED by Brian A. Metcalf

Sarah is going out one evening to spend time with her best friend. She takes the necklace her Uncle Mike gifted to her years ago. Mike had come to her town years ago to be close his sister and Sarah to overcome the grief he felt for the loss of his wife and unborn child to a drunk driver. Sarah and her friend are doing the usual rebel things teens do when they find themselves surrounded by eyeless zombies. Soon Sarah is rescued by a mysterious protector named Jacob (who has ties to the house where Uncle Mike had died). They are on the run from the hordes of the dead and soon release the necklace Sarah is wearing contains a powerful rune that Mathias, a dead necromancer, wants back. He had cursed the town and cursed Mike's bloodline. Jacob knows Mathias must be faced because he and Sarah can't run forever.

FADING OF THE CRIES is impressive for the amount it gets done visually on a small budget that involved lots of green screen work. The only thing s that let the film down are the climax and not developing the character of Sarah enough. FADING OF THE CRIES reveals the stories of Jacob, Mike, and Mathias, but I wish Brian A Metcalf made Sarah a more active character in this film as she takes a back seat to the climatic battle between Jacob and Mathias. He is so focused on developing the characters who are damaged by the house and its history only not to give enough to care about Sarah and her family.

SPECIAL FETAURES:

!5 minutes of Interviews with cast and crew as they talk about making the movie and their characters. It is like a making-of featurette in a way as it shows how they filmed some of the film against green screen and reveal that Dorif and Matthews rehearsed their fight scenes. also on the disc is the theatrical trailer and trailers for other Lionsgate releases.

FINAL ANALYSIS: FADING OF THE CRIES is impressive for the action and the amount of effects done on a small budget. I just wish Brian Metcalf focused a little on Sarah and why it is important to care about her.

this DVD review is (c)11-18-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com