tlooknbill
Well, I'ld be yelling my head off in excruciating agony running to plunge my entire body in the kitchen ice box. I certainly wouldn't be wining in a weak annoying high pitched tiny scream and flailing my hands against the window while running around the house which is what you'll be subjected to from a little girl reliving this experience through the reincarnated soul of another child occupying the same body who was years before burned to death in a fire from a automobile accident.This little girl's reacting this way throughout the entire movie is the hole in the logic of the movie's entire premise though it is a very interesting concept for a movie plot. It just needed more emphasis either through acting performance and/or special effects to make it land right.I finally watched this movie from start to finish a day ago after always catching this movie in the middle in reruns and kept hitting the remote because I just couldn't sit through this irritating screaming girl I at first thought was just being possessed by an evil spirit as some Exorcist movie wanna' be.I actually misjudged this movie based on not knowing what this screaming girl's problem was. I felt all the adult actors did a very good job in making me suspend disbelief in a movie plot that effectively demonstrates how reincarnation could be shown and manifested in a human.I mean most claims of reincarnation I've heard or read about don't provide any proof. This movie cleverly and compellingly shows it in a well written plot with convincing dialog and realistically gut wrenching emotion from the actors. Lot's of tears are called up by the actors in this one. There's not a lot of movies that approach this subject in this way with this level of seriousness and commitment by the actors and story line at the same time have it be a thoroughly entertaining experience which was the case with me.I just couldn't get passed the little girl's thin sounding screaming from reliving being burned alive over and over.
AaronCapenBanner
John Beck & Marsha Mason play Bill & Janice Templeton, a happily married New York couple with a young daughter named Ivy, who becomes the center of attention after she is repeatedly followed by a mysterious man, who eventually makes contact, and introduces himself as Elliot Hoover(played by Anthony Hopkins) who had lost his own daughter Audrey Rose 11 years ago in a car accident, and who is convinced that Ivy is his daughter Audrey reincarnated. The Templeton's are sympathetic for his loss, but scoff at reincarnation. However, when Ivy starts having horrible nightmares, Hoover gets directly involved and takes Ivy/Audrey out of their apartment, which prompts his arrest, and a trial involving the validity of reincarnation, which results in Ivy undergoing hypnosis, with unexpected results...Anthony Hopkins is excellent, and though director Robert Wise imbues the film with some atmosphere, it is unfortunately plodding and overlong, though does retain some interest in the premise, its conclusion is not very satisfying, almost becoming ridiculous.
reagenwilson
While the overall plot of the movie was excellent, especially for that period of time when the subject of reincarnation was new, Susan Swift's acting "ability" made this movie unbearable to watch. Her constant whining and inability to control her facial features was a huge distraction not to mention that she looked as though she had a mental illness. I cannot believe that she was actually picked for a big screen movie, she lacks any form of talent and is one of the worst actresses I have ever seen. I looked up her biography and it's no surprise that she only starred in a total of 4 big screen productions, someone finally realized the dud that they had on their hands. The old saying that money talks really must have rung true when her parents took her to that audition.
