Sequels Nobody Asked For: White Noise 2

Early in 2005, Universal dumped into theaters WHITE NOISE, which was most notable for being Michael Keaton's first starring role in a theatrical release in nearly seven years. It wasn't very good (though it was a hit), but it must have caught someone's attention at the studio, because WHITE NOISE 2 quickly went into production in 2006. It came out just about everywhere but North America in 2007, and finally slid into a direct-to-DVD release in early 2008. Bringing together two genre favorites—Nathan Fillion of FIREFLY and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's sexy Starbuck, Katee Sackhoff—was a good ploy to lure science fiction fans, but they deserve a better vehicle than WHITE NOISE 2.

Three months after his wife and son are murdered seemingly randomly by a gunman (Craig Fairbrass) who then turns his weapon on himself, a grief-stricken Abe Dale (Fillion) attempts suicide. He survives, but his near-death experience has left him with the ability to know who is going to die. He uses his power to save them, including the pretty nurse (Sackhoff) who tended to him after his suicide attempt, but comes to learn that the people he saves, through some Satanic mumbo-jumbo, turn into mass murderers three days later. And—gulp!—he's starting to fall in love with the widowed Sackhoff.

Sloppy plotting and an implausible romance subplot sink this sequel shot in Vancouver. Fillion has a black friend/co-worker/partner (?) who pops up for exposition purposes from time to time, but we never learn anything about him or what their jobs are, and while I think both Fillion and Sackhoff are good here, their relationship doesn't ring even the least bit plausible to me. I didn't understand the "booga booga whooooo scaaaaary" 666 stuff (we see Fillion do some doodles, but aren't told what he's doing), and the movie's insistence at throwing a zombie spirit in our face every minute and a half--I guess to remind us that this movie is scaaaaaary whoooooooo--gets old after about 7 1/2 minutes. Patrick Lussier, a Wes Craven protégé whose directorial career to date consists solely of DTV sequels, including three DRACULA movies, stages one impressive setpiece involving a grand piano that could be favorably compared to Brian DePalma, so WHITE NOISE 2 is not completely without worth. Though it is without purpose.