Apparently,
Sarah Fording is majoring in bad karma. For her thesis project, she has the
bright idea to invite her friends for a weekend at her prof’s cabin, where she
will film them experiencing the scares she has pre-planned. Right, because what
could go wrong? Of course, she has some unexpected help in James Simpson’s Definition of Fear (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.
With
her closed circuit cameras in place, Fording arrives with her pals Victoria
Burns, Frankie Toms, and Rachel Moore. Mostly Fording has prepared recorded
bumps in the night and the like. However, Burns goes off script when she
insists she saw a menacing psycho-stalker in the woods. Oh, that’s just Oddle,
the handyman Fording assures everyone. Nonetheless, the weirdness starts to
pile up, so the women logically seek answers from the Ouija Board. Soon they
are in touch with the spirit of “Mary,” who freaks them out even worse.
Definition has the
distinction of being the American movie premiere of Sri Lankan Bollywood star
Jacqueline Fernandez, so probably millions more viewers will it in than your
average indie horror film. Somewhat fortunately, the film is actually rather
good for what it is. Simpson cranks up the dread steadily and surely and the
initial Ouija sessions are impressively tense. Yet, as is par for the spooky
movie course, the women ultimately turn into gimpy quarterbacks who stay in the
pocket way to long. When Mary tells them to “GO” they should be out the door,
no more questions asked.
Despite
a few such shortcomings endemic to the genre, the attractive cast handles the
supernatural business rather well. It is her showcase and Fernandez does indeed
make quite an impression during Fording’s sultry scenes of possession (regular
genre viewers will definitely want to see more of her). As the “sensitive”
Burns, Katherine Barrell seems genuinely terrified. Blythe Hubbard’s Moore is
refreshingly down-to-earth and relatively proactive, while Mercedes Papalia
shows pleasantly surprising range as Toms.