The Skeptic (2009)

(In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) Calling The Skeptic an old-school made-for-TV movie is more descriptive than insulting, although it accurately suggests that you shouldn’t expect much from the results. Apparently written by director Tennyson Bardwell in the 1980s, then shelved and shot in 2005 only to be sold a few years later for direct-to-video distribution, The Skeptic is a case study in small-scale, single-location horror with more eeriness than outright violence or gore. The basic story has a lawyer inheriting a “haunted house” even though he doesn’t believe in the supernatural, so you can expect the film to hover in that liminal zone where things can either be supernatural or psychological, depending on how much credence you place on hallucinations and coincidences. Tim Daly stars, but he’s not as interesting as Tom Arnold in a showy supporting role or Zoe Saldana as a psychic who may or may not be real. The script eventually works itself to a climax made of repressed memories and unbearable guilt. It’s all so… pedestrian. Indifferently directed and conventionally plotted, The Skeptic makes good use of the large house in which much of the action is set. Saldana is always a compelling performer, so that’s that. But as far as the film is concerned, it’s nothing special. There’s just enough to keep us interested and nothing more. A bit like the kind of stuff you’d catch late at night on cable.