Jeremy alias Vassago(Jeremy Sisto), a worshiper of the devil, believes that Satan beckons & guides him to kill so that they can be united in death. He is a young psycho who, in his devotion, murders his mother & sister & then proceeds to sacrifice himself at the private altar in his room; just as his father barges in, a second too late to stop him. Free from the physical body, his soul travels through space towards the light, but is thrown down to the dark recesses of hell....
The Harrison family consists of Hatch (Jeff Goldblum), Lindsey (Christine Lahti) & their teenage daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone). Their family photograph includes a younger daughter Samantha, who had died in a car accident, even as her father watched on helplessly. He is unable to overcome the incident & blames himself for not being able to save her. As a result, he becomes over protective about the elder girl & she resents the generation gap.
1 night, driving along the highway with his family, Hatch is deep in thought, watching his daughter when all of a sudden, a sleeping truck driver appears ahead. He tries to avoid the accident too late & the car hits the truck & skids to the edge of a ravine. Lindsey’s door is stuck but Regina manages to squirm out before the car rolls furiously into a river carrying an unconscious couple. As the car is being carried further & deeper into the river by the strong currents, Lindsey regains consciousness, struggles out of the window, pulling her dead husband out after her, just in time....
The doctor in charge of the case is known to have brought dead people back to life & he decides to save Hatch, even 2 hours after his death. While his soul is wandering towards the bluish light, Hatch sees Samantha as an angel smiling & welcoming him. She disappears into the light & just as he is about to follow her, he is rudely jolted back to the operation table in the hospital.
Together again & closer as a family, the Harrisons try to get back to normal life. At night, Hatch wakes up to prepare a midnight snack. As he picks up the kitchen knife to chop the vegetables, his hand starts trembling violently. All of a sudden, he finds himself in a dark alley where he slices up the throat of a beautiful young girl & he loses consciousness.. Lindsey finds him by the poolside with his wrist slashed deeply. She helps him inside, assuring him, ’U didn’t kill anyone. It’s just a nightmare honey.’ & the nightmare begins....
The next day, both husband & wife visit the doctor who assures them that it’s not unusual since he has just been through a terrible phase. He promises that it will stop soon. But the ’nightmares’ don’t stop. Time & again, Hatch experiences incidents in which he ’sees’ a young boy killing young girls as if he’s present there. Strangely, all those girls disappear untraceably. But no one believes him. Helpless, Hatch is on his own trying to figure out the mystery of how he can actually ’see’ a person who he doesn’t even know.
His anxiety grows as he realises that its the other way round too. Vassago, brought back to life, can see him right back when Hatch experiences extreme negative emotions of fear, pain, anxiety or anger. Since both have been brought back from the other side, they have a kind of psychic connection between them. It scares him to no end when Hatch finds out that Jeremy is now after Regina. Trying to protect her, he scares her even more. He is the only one who can save her & yet, he is the one she fears. With no one to turn to, Hatch starts to try & fight back. His only comfort is the spirit of Samantha which seems to be with him while the maniac killer is protected by the devil himself....
It’s a Columbia Tristar Presentation directed by Brett Leonard, Produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz, Gimel Everett & Agatha Hanczakowski. It’s supposed to be a pure thriller based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz. Though it’s supposed to be based on the book, Dean was utterly disappointed with the way the movie turned out as there were too many editings & he felt that the real essence was diluted. So, to get the complete thrill, better pick up the book & read it.
Coming back to the movie, fast paced, 1 event following another in quick succession, it doesn’t really give U time to lose grip of whatever it is that U are clutching, especially in the first half. The second half, however, seems to drag a bit. It is not the kind of movie which will give U a hair raising time; instead, the horror of it lies in its simplicity. However, there is not much scope for flaunting the acting skills except for Goldblum who looks natural as the romantic husband, possessive father, skeptic of supernatural things & later, plainly accepting the truth. All the others are wasted, especially Alicia Silverstone who is hardly noticeable. She looks like a plain Jane compared to the Aerosmith videos. Jeremy Sisto hardly looks convincing as a psychotic killer even though his role had vast performance opportunities. U may dislike him immensely but he fails to send a chill up Ur spine.
Though the story line is good, it seems uneffective as compared to ’Seven’, also directed by Brett Leonard almost simultaneously. Like a pair of twins where one is endowed with all the good qualities while the other gets a raw deal. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching it once, but a second time is a definite no-no. Once is more than enough!