In the last fifteen years or so E.V.P. or Electronic Voice Phenomenon has been practiced by a group of "scientists" who claim that using recording devices, backed with such noise as static (the "White Noise" of the title) or even something like running water, they can pick-up vocal transmissions from beyond the grave by spirits. It's this basic premise that makes-up the story behind the critically lambasted horror/thriller, White Noise.

Michael Keaton (who I was just beginning to wonder to myself "whatever happened to..." before this came out) stars as a successful architect who finds his life thrown into chaos when his wife goes missing in a car accident one evening. Things get even more bizarre when he's approached by a man who claims to have picked-up transmissions from her ghost. From there all sorts of supernatural thing start to occur when he receives phone calls from her turned-off cell phone and people start to turn up dead.

Soon he's using E.V.P. for himself as he becomes obsessed with picking-up messages using his own equipment. Then what he assumes is his wife starts leading him to future tragic events. Of course, this being a horror movie, there's also a sub-plot involving images of three shady figures who may just be evil spirits.

As you can tell from the plot summary, White Noise really suffers from having a script that never really makes sense. There's way too much muddy plotting on hand and we're never sure of what the intentions of the ghosts are. In fact, even the finale fails to explain anything and just manages to throw more "cogs in the works" as it introduces a plot twist that doesn't agree with the story.

It's really too bad it's too muddy because the idea behind it is certainly decent and it's fairly well made with a few okay "jump" moments - but White Noise just can't rise about Niall Johnson's awfully confused attempt at a script.

Followed by a sequel. (Chris Hartley, 5/31/05)

Directed By: Geoffrey Sax.
Written By: Niall Johnson.

Starring: Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West, Ian McNeice.

Picture Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Universal presents White Noise in a nice and clear transfer and I really didn't notice and flaws with the presentation.

Extras: For some reason Universal doesn't like including a trailer with their releases anymore and that's too bad (I love trailers). But the extras they have included are fairly passable anyway as there's three featurettes dealing with E.V.P. (one focussing on the "experts", one on how to record it in your own home, and one with "actual E.V.P. sessions) which I can't buy at all, five deleted scenes with optional commentary, and a mostly passable commentary track with director Sax and star Keaton.