White Noise Review

The last time ghosts were coming at us through the TV, Poltergiest became a huge cult hit. Now more than twenty years later the dead have gone more hi-tech and are using mp3s and videos to contact us - at least that's the premise behind this spooky thriller which stars former Batman Michael Keaton. Keaton stars as a grieving husband whose wife died in mysterious circumstances. He's trying to get on with his life but when he's introduced to EVP (that's Electronic Voice Phenomenon to you and me) by an eccentric Brit, he becomes obsessed with trying to reach his late spouse. But it's not just the nice spooks who are using this technique to reach out across the ethereal plane, as Keaton soon discovers...

With the technique of EVP gaining quite a following, it was only a matter of time before a dramatisation of the phenomenon reached our screens. And it certainly is a dramatisation, with folks dropping likes flies as the plot descends into a paranormal serial killer farce. Keaton spends most of his time staring at fuzzy TV screens and occasionally crying but does little else, while his character goes from sceptic to firm believer in a matter of seconds on the evidence of a crackling of static. There's no doubt that devotees of EVP will be pleased that this movie will give their cause some publicity - but given the plot holes and cliched scenarios the film resorts to, its unlikely that White Noise will convert many audience members into believers.