A Cry from Within

Director(s) - Zach Miller (Intention, Belief, Emotion, and Will: Consciousness and the Scientific Basis for Magick and Miracles) and Deborah Twiss (Confidence Game)
Starring - Eric Roberts (Human Centipede III: Final Sequence), Cathy Moriarty (Casper), and Deborah Twiss
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Thriller
Tagline - "A tormented soul never dies"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Thrillers have always been a love/hate relationship with me.  Most try way to hard to pull one over on the viewer and forgetting that they need to entertain those watching and not mind fuck them.  With that being said, I have seen several great thrillers the last few years that were sent my way for review.  I just finished up watching Pig Pen and it knocked my socks off.  I was very impressed by this low budget thriller and decided it was time to check out another thriller this time sent to me from Breaking Glass Pictures.  I had this thriller for several months after it was sent to me by random.  The thriller, A Cry From Within, starred Eric Roberts so I didn't want to blow it off completely.  Instead, I waited until the mood hit me.

     The film follows a family of four; father Jonathan (Roberts), the mother Cecile (Twiss), and their two children when they discover that Cecile is with child.  The family comes together to await the baby's arrival but things turn dark when Cecile has a miscarriage.  The family falls on dark times and cross paths with Alice (Moriarty).  Alice takes care of her bed ridden mother in a big house.  They strike up a conversation and Alice agrees to leave her home with her mother and let the family rent the big home.  The family moves in with hopes that this bigger home and change of scenery will help their family over this dark spot in their lives but what they don't know is that the house is home to a dark presence that wants to tear them apart.

     Personally, I enjoy a good thriller that relies heavily on atmosphere and story over the ones that try to give the viewer an unbelievable story with a twist ending.  A Cry from Within is able to nail the atmosphere but the story lacked depth and was unable to hold the viewer's attention.  The acting in this is amazing with the exception of the only reason I wanted to watch it, Eric Roberts.  Co-director and co-star Deborah Twiss was great.  She is absolutely gorgeous and it was almost impossible to look away from her.  It was great seeing Cathy Moriarty on the screen again.  If you grew up around the time I did then you saw Casper more times than you care to count so it was great to see her in another major role.  Her character Alice was solid as well and made every scene she was in fun.  Now, for Eric Roberts.  I am a big fan of Roberts and will go out of the way to grab his films whenever I can but I just wasn't feeling him in this film.  He was always smiling and his interactions with Twiss do not feel authentic and genuine.  Twiss is a hottie so don't get me wrong, but the whole time I felt he wasn't acting with her but trying to flirt with her while spitting out his dialogue.  This was very disappointing.  The story for this one feels incomplete and could easily be two separate films.  The film could have been a more traditional thriller with the family dealing with a tragedy and could have easily went the dramatic thriller route.  Also, the film could have amped up the paranormal aspect and made one creepy supernatural thriller.  Instead, the film tries to join the two and water them down which results in a very bland story with very little entertainment.  Finally, those of you that are looking for blood and gore will not find it here.  This is a thriller in every way so no bloodshed can be found.  Overall, A Cry from Within could have been one hell of a film but failed to do so.  We get a weak performance from Roberts and a story that just does not deliver.  I do not recommend this one.