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Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, a wealthy architect whose wife Anna dies after falling down while changing a tire. Naturally distraught (actually, we never see him distraught, but we'll just assume that took place off camera), he's approached by the incredibly jowly Raymond (Ian McNeice), a man who claims to be able to communicate with dead people. After getting mysterious calls from Anna's cell phone, Jonathan pays Raymond a visit. Raymond's home includes a low-tech videotape set-up that allows him to pick-up and amplify tiny bits of audio that supposedly come from the afterlife. Conveniently during Jonathan's first visit to Raymond, he meets Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger), who just that very moment had a breakthrough in communicating with her deceased fiancé.

The whole EVP process is never explained to satisfaction: we believe it because we have to in order to endure the rest of the movie. Soon, Anna makes contact, her ghostly monotone uttering short, terse sentences that imply that Heaven charges per- word to call Earth. After Raymond meets an untimely end, Jonathan takes over the business, filling his condo with televisions and recording equipment. Acting only with his face, Keaton is required to spend endless minutes staring into monitors, reacting to the voices he hears. He smartly underplays it, which temporarily helps keep us involved. Eventually, Jonathan begins hearing messages that aren't benign. It seems there's a group of ghosts who don't like it when the living try and talk to the dead.

In addition, things get muddled when Jonathan begins receiving messages not from the dead, but from living people in immediate danger. This was where the movie jumped ship. Since there are people who really believe in EVP, that thin thread of possibility drove our interest. But to then take the concept and make it into something completely ridiculous deprived the movie of any grounding in reality. On the plus side, I thought we were witnessing the emergence of an odd little detective franchise, where Anna reports on people about to die and Jonathan tries to save them. Imagine Nora Charles dying violently, then helping husband Nick Charles solve crimes! The Thin Man and The Dead Wife!

The film's climax takes place in an abandoned warehouse, which makes sense since at that point, the movie abandons all sense of logic and story. Jonathan arrives to save a kidnapped woman, but when Anna suddenly, and with no precedent, appears on a wall and he's attacked by ghosts, the wheels officially come off.

By the end, I wondered why the police took so little interest in Jonathan either as a suspect or a source, while also wondering if Jonathan's son, dumped from the movie to stay with a family friend, will ever see dad again. Director Geoffrey Sax's work here is reminiscent of Nick Hamm's work on the similarly bad Godsend . It's like British directors taking a shot at Hollywood horror think moody lighting is all that's needed to impress Stateside audiences. Note to any other British directors with an eye towards horror: we care more about fleshed-out characters then people like Jonathan, who does nothing, says nothing and thinks nothing other than that which advances the story. Plus, make sure your story has no logic gaps. White Noise has too many. EVP adherents were probably thrilled to hear that a movie was being made about their morbid and far-fetched hobby. Had they known it would turn out to be White Noise , I'm sure they would have preferred to stay in the shadows.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35 is presented in Anamorphic video. The results are quite nice. Color palette tends towards the dark side, with lots of blacks, grays and steel blues. And all the colors are clear and confident. Blacks are very dark, with no pixilation or compression artifacts. Contrast is excellent, with the lowlight interiors looking above average with very little grain. This is a crisp transfer that contains no print flaws.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track has its work cut out for it. This supernatural thriller contains lots of “boo” moments and complicated sound work. And everything is conveyed clearly, with much creativity. I do wish the surrounds really kicked butt, though. As it is, they were quite good. Dialogue is clear, but I did have problems understanding the voices from beyond. If I hadn't turned on my subtitles, I would have missed key dialogue. Otherwise, the whooshing of ghosts sounds aggressive, but not obnoxious. Some of the music and effects stings seem overly cranked to insure you get scared, which was annoying. There are plenty of directional effects, like ringing phones, turning doorknobs and some dialogue. Overall depth and detail are impressive. Crank up the bass, because your LFE will enjoy the workout. The score sounds very full, helping deepen the aural experience.

There is also a Spanish Dolby 5.1 track and English and Spanish subtitles as well as English closed captions .

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The first extra is an audio commentary by director Geoffrey Sax and actor Michael Keaton. It's one of those disturbing commentaries where the participants seem completely oblivious to the fact that the movie sucks. Sax waxes poetic about the locations and the Vancouver actors he hired. Keaton is more enjoyable, talking about how difficult it is to avoid overacting when you're trying to look scared or concerned. Keaton leaves the recording session about 75 minutes into the commentary. Probably from embarrassment.

Three featurettes try and convince you that communicating with the dead is not only possible, but will insure promotional appearances on DVDs. Making Contact: EVP Experts carts out some EVP luminaries including Instrumental Transcommunication Journal founder Dr. Anabela Cardosa, paranormal investigators Claire Andrea Zammit and Dennis William Hauck, AA-EVP founder Sarah Estep and Bridge to the Afterlife founder Martha Copeland. Those predisposed to believe this stuff may be intrigued, but it's hard to take these people seriously, especially since there's no contrary opinion to balance out their cult-like believe in EVP. Part of the featurette takes place at an EVP conference, where a recording of a supposedly dead person is played. To the question, “What's life like on the other side?”, the deceased man answers, “very heavy.” I don't know about you, but that's all the proof I need.

Recording the Afterlife at Home shows us how easy it is to hear dead people…in the comfort of your living room! According to EVP experts Tom and Lisa Butler, all you need is a cassette recorder with a counter, headphones and an inexpensive microphone. For unexplained reasons, there must be background noise, like running water or radio static, audible in the room. ALERT: If you use a voice activated, digital voice recorder you don't need any background noise. Keep that in mind. I can't even begin to make fun of these people. If you try this at home, please contact my friend, Stevie. He still owes me $5.

Hearing is Believing: Actual EVP Sessions sees Tom and Lisa Butler going through a haunted house and recording the dead people. They play the results, which include a DVD reviewer saying the word, “sucker” over and over again.

There are five deleted scenes , which can be played with optional audio commentary by director Geoffrey Sax. None of them mean much, but the last clip is five minutes long and contains the original, more violent climax in the warehouse. Video looks like a very clean workprint.

Final Thoughts