Nitzan Havoc I'm a big fan of Horror dealing with haunting and exorcisms. The Appearing seemed like an average film from these sub-genres, but it definitely isn't, for better and for worse. After watching this, I've realized I'd find it easier if I tried hard enough to focus on the good things...First of all, I was very happy seeing Dean Cain doing cinema! I really liked him in Lois and Clarke back in the day, and last time I've seen anything by him was his average role in Circle of Pain. So... Nice seeing you Dean!Second, I absolutely loved the new interpretation of possession behaviour. It of course had some of the motives we've grown accustomed to from pretty much every exorcism film since The Exorcist, but it was mostly quite innovative in its own way. Less extreme over-acting, more mellow and tasteful insanity originating from something unknown. Speaking of insanity, the film did try to combine that factor in order to present some twists, but these were sadly not that impressive.Finally, the best feature of this film is without a doubt newbie actress Emily Brooks. I have no idea why Dean Cain, who has 10% the camera time she has, appears as a main actor while she doesn't. She has performed almost perfectly both as a delusional woman and as a possessed one. I loved every minute of her, and sincerely hope to see her again in the Horror genre! Also, along with her acting, main actor Will Wallace (Braveheart, anyone?) whom I've never seen before demonstrated some exceptional, professional and wonderful acting.Now for the rest... the plot was vague, unclear and needed better writing and editing (script lacked in particular). The acting by the rest of the cast was bluntly unimpressive. The way Exorcism films insist on staying fixed on Christianity is old and annoying and we were already tired with it a decade ago. In order to enjoy this film you really have to focus on the aforementioned light spots, and most viewers and raters aren't really going to. And I completely understand them.Would I recommend this film? Only to a fellow devout Horror fan who would appreciate the good parts enough so as not to smack me across the head for making him tolerate the rest. As for others looking for a fun scary film? Nope, sorry. This film deserves a 2, but I'm mercifully rating 5 because the smart possession scenes and Wallace and Brooks' acting are easily worth 3 points in my opinion.

jea8052003 In "The Appearing", Michael (Will Wallace) and his wife Rachel (Emily Brooks) relocate to a small town in northern California after the death of their daughter. Shortly after they arrive Rachel starts having disturbing hallucinations that all seem to be linked to this abandoned house (pretty sure it's the old house from "Psycho" which adds another element of cool). The house is also the location of several disappearances over the past several years and as Michael searches to uncover the truth he discovers a more demonic force may be at work. I really enjoyed this movie! I thought it was a well-done exorcism film with nice plot development. I think some people going to horror films nowadays expect the cheesy clichés and over-the-top special effects in order for a film to be "watchable." This story focuses more on its characters and not just the possession. Honestly, I grow tired of horror movies that are constantly bombarding the audience with over the top special effects. This film offers a fresh story line about religious warfare with an added emphasis of faith and spirituality that I really appreciated.

metalrage666 That's what I felt when watching this. I was basically watching every other lame ghost story there has ever been put to celluloid.A detective and his wife try and start a new life in a small town, (why is it always a small town?), to get over the tragic loss of their child.There's no time to settle in as the new detective becomes involved in a missing persons case. It all seems to be about a powerful demon that is running rampant through the town and also the fact that his wife used to be a victim of possession, however this just leaves her vulnerable to further possessions by one of the princes of hell known as Asmodeus. There are old houses, dead languages being spoken, words written in blood, spooky recordings and every other ghost movie cliché you can shake a stick at in The Appearing. If all this sounds somewhat exciting, it isn't. I found this to just plod along from one seemingly spooky bit to the other without much story in between. Even the finale of the detective, sheriff and the obligatory fallen, yet not completely fallen priest helping to exorcise the demon was boring. It was obvious to me that they just tried way too hard to make this a masterpiece of cinematography, which it isn't. It appears that seeing Dean Cain in a cast list is another reason to avoid a movie at all costs.As for other reviews on this title, I didn't find the movie racist in any way due to the lack of black women. For that matter there were no Asian or Hispanic women in the movie either from what I could see, but whether or not that makes a movie racist remains to be seen. The Appearing is just a boring, colour by numbers movie that didn't need to be made. Having a more multi-racial cast would not have made much of a difference to just how awful this movie is.

alec-817-763002 Take all the actors out and replace them with ones who can act and use more than one or two facial expressions then possibly it could work. Oh and a corpse that doesn't breathe, although by far she was the better actress so that says a lot. Worst film I have seen in ages. Says I have to write ten lines before I can submit this review. ...I am not sure I can come up with anything more valuable to persuade you not to waste your time. If you do have a fish tank then perhaps buy some popcorn and settle down in front of it and enjoy an action packed fish frenzy of aquatic pleasure. It will be a far more valuable use of your time. Is that ten lines yet? I have put more effort and time into this than the whole film . Right.....off to sprinkle some fish flakes........