Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Brad Dourif, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Mackenzie Rosman, Elaine Hendrix, Hallee Hirsh, Jessica Morris, Jordan Matthews, Julia Whelan, Pamela Clay, Lateef Crowder, Paul McCarthy-Boyington, Philip J. Silvera | Written by Brian A. Metcalf
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 89 minutes | Directed by Brian A. Metcalf
When hordes of zombie-like beings begin plaguing a small town as a result of a dark sorcerer's (Dourif) resurrection, teenager Sarah (Hirsh) and her mother and younger sister are caught up in the middle of the chaos. Separated from her family, Sarah is saved from almost certain death by Jacob (Matthews), who is a dab-hand at dispatching the nasties with his trusty sword, as well as a walking encyclopaedia on not only how the supernatural assault came to be, but how it can be stopped, with a mysterious amulet being both the reason and remedy.
The pretentiously-titled Fading of the Cries is an ambitious piece of work. But it's also a bit of a piece of you-know-what. I greatly respect the low budget, but the script calls for far more than the finished product could ever hope to deliver. Metcalf is no Gareth Edwards: the visual effects go from surprisingly good to shockingly bad. A great deal of creativity has been injected into the writing, but it's so misguided that there is an ugly pound of ineptitude for every ounce of imagination. The film is such a mess of fantastical elements that its identity gets lost.
Dourif is the best thing about the movie by a long way, portraying his evil character in fittingly melodramatic fashion. He also happens to be head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, as he stands alongside some really awful performances. For someone who has a Best Actress award under her belt and was a reoccurring character on ER for nearly a decade, “leading lady” Hirsh sure stinks the film up. She's overwrought to the point where watching her simply becomes unbearable. What on earth is up with her constant corpsing when the camera is close? She is unequivocally abysmal, even up against the likes of Matthews, who makes for the most unconvincing of moody, sword-swinging heroes with his weedy frame, trench coat and Robert Pattinson-esque stone-face.
Metcalf seems to have the potential to make a good movie – there's somewhat of an atmosphere and it's nicely shot except for the obsessive use of camera tilts – but, try as he might with this effort, the final product is unfortunately nothing but a nonsensical jumble with a lot of blood and inauthentic CG backdrops that feels like it was rushed to completion.
EXTRAS ? A 15-minute behind the scenes feature.