Title: Fading of the Cries
Directed by: Brian A. Metcalf
Starring: Brad Dourif, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Makenzie Rossman, Hallee Hirsh, Jessica Morris, Julia Whelan, Jordan Matthews and Elaine Hendrix.
Running time: 93 minutes, Rated R, Available on Blu-ray
Michael, (Thomas Ian Nicholas) a widower writer suffering from depression finds solace in practicing necromancy. His niece Sarah (Hallee Hirsh) finds an old amulet he had given her years ago, and as soon as she puts it on, her world is ambushed by hollow eyed zombies and supernatural demons led by a necromancer named Mathias (Brad Dourif). A lone samurai sword wielding teen named Jacob (Jordan Matthews) appears out of nowhere, and vows to protect her. When Mathias kidnaps Sarah’s sister Jill (Makenzie Rossman), Jacob swears to rescue her and rid the world of Mathias and his minions.
The film was a jumbled mess of different genres, with confusing flashbacks, overuse of voice over narration and over abundant special effect to attempt to bandage the film. The CGI effects were almost SyFy channel caliber; obvious green screen and too much of it. The sound effects guy was having way too much fun with the squeaky bridge; it sounded like kittens farting rather than ominous and intense.
This film was plagued by annoyingly poor acting by the majority of the cast; with exception to Brad Dourif and Elaine Hendrix, however their own skills are somewhat over the top. The narration by Thomas Ian Nicholas was irritating; yeah I got that he was a writer and it was probably a journal, but who was reading it? Hearing the actors say “necromancer” is like hearing Australians say “aluminum,” odd, but far less sexy.
The special features include cast and crew interviews and theatrical trailer. By the way the actors and crew were talking about the film, they obviously had not seen the final cut.
Fading of the Cries could’ve been a decent movie if they cut down on one of the story lines or supernatural elements; for one I think the zombie storyline should’ve been omitted since the zombie genre is getting overdone. Jacob’s storyline could’ve been written better. He goes from a teenager whose family is murdered by demons to becoming an expert swordsman, something that should have taken years to train yet he still looks 17; yeah okay. The ending with Jacob giving Mathias a sword pimp-slapping was cheesy and lackluster; an utter facepalm of endings.
Total rating: D
Reviewed by: JM Willis
