It was just stupid, really, three girls - Andie (Megan Lynn), Candace
(Kathy Sue Holtorf) and Julie (Sabrina Carmichael) - perform a séance at
long deceased serialkiller Stanton's (George Lofland) long abandoned house
... and things get a little out of hand - nothing big, but it scares the
living shit out of Candace. Well, nobody's really surprised, as Candace
has a history in drugs and is presently on meds and so on and so forth. A
few months later, Candace invites Andie over for a few drinks. She seems
awfully fidgety (but you know, her condition and such), and conversations
with her keep returning to the séance in question. Eventually, Andie
notices she's had a few too much, and Candace pretty much urges her to
crash at her place ... and the next morning, Andie finds Candace dead in
her bathtub with slit wrists. Andie wants to call the authorities, but she
finds a DVD with a note from Candace to watch before informing anyone, and
on that video Candace claims she has been possessed by Stanton's wife
(K.K. Ryder), who's a spirit with a wrath (she was Stanton's first victim)
- and the things that happen in Candace's house (including inanimate
objects moving and the like) might prove her just right. Furthermore,
Candace claims to have killed her boyfriend (Robert Dough), and when Andie
finds clue after clue that lead to his corpse, she figures there's
something seriously not right, something that's only getting more out of
hands with Candace's death. But she might be fighting against forces too
big for her to tackle ... Rather obviously made on a very low
budget, Deadly Presence proves to be the little film that can, a
ghost story that puts very little emphasis on effects and spectacle and
all the more on clever storytelling, interesting characters and of course
atmospheric filmmaking. And add to this a very solid cast, and you've got
yourself a pretty good film, actually. Highly recommended!
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