White Noise 2 actually improves on the original film (an odd title to sequalize if there ever was one, which wasted a fairly unique premise on an over-wrought “avenging angel” scenario) and offers a fair number of genuine shocks.
Starring fanboy faves Nathan Fillion (Firefly) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Gallactica) and directed by b-movie vet (and longtime Wes Craven editor) Patrick Lussier, the film puts another character (Fillion’s Abe) through the wringer of losing his family and being burdened with an uncanny sense of the supernatural. What Noise 2 does differently than its predecessor, in a smart move IMO, is behave like a horror film. There are a number of nicely-staged scares, decent gore is put on display when appropriate, and the film avoids (for the most part) the touchy-feely zone the first Noise wandered into and never really escaped. A third-act freak-out by Fillion at a fancy charity dinner, culminating in an exciting mouse-trap styled death sequence involving a falling grand piano, is particularly impressive.
Fillion and Sackhoff are good in their roles and work well with what little they’ve been given in terms of characterization. The script, by Pelts adapter Matt Venne, takes cues from the first film but works in enough of its own quirks that even though it retreads material it’s never boring. Touches of the Final Destination series creep in here and there, as Fillion must try to piece together how seemingly disparate events could result in a given person’s death.
Right now the film is popping on video in international territories and should be on DVD in the US in October. Those in the mood for a decent DTV thriller could do much worse. A pleasant surprise.
