Living with the Dead (2002)

(In French, On Cable TV, April 2022) By the time some movies show up on French-Canadian TV, a lot of the context around them has been removed, changed or evolved beyond initial intentions. This is not necessarily a bad thing: The steamroller effect of presenting everything as just another TV guide entry is like a bulldozer flattening preconceptions about what’s a prestige big-budget release, a direct-to-streaming cheap production or something even stranger. For Living with the Dead, for instance, it pops up on a horror-dedicated channel as a single staggering four-hour-long film, with a cast including well-known names such as Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Diane Ladd, Jack Palance and Queen Latifah (in an admittedly early role). What this obscures is that it began life as a two-part made-for-network-TV film, with some marquee names in small quick roles. As such, it does present a different kind of experience than a quick 90-minute horror film, and one that works to the film’s advantage in many ways. Adapted from a “true story,” Living with the Dead follows a man as he realizes that he can see and communicate with the ghosts of dead people, and tell the future from touching other (living) people. Far from immediately focusing on the horrific potential, the film is at its best and most distinctive in how it presents this ability as comforting – a way to warn, to make things right with the living, to resolve long-standing questions. The made-for-TV slow pacing of the story is most appropriate to those early and middle segments of the film, with overlapping episodes that don’t necessarily rush from one plot point to another – this isn’t structured along a familiar three-act pattern. Of course, that doesn’t make for much drama over the long-term, and that’s how a much grimmer story of child abduction keeps brewing throughout the film, finally becoming the dominant plotline in the last half-hour of the show. While the length of the result will prove overpowering if you’re expecting a short and snappy horror film, the result is not bad if you approach it with the right expectations. Danson is better than usual (especially at that time in his filmography) in a non-comedic role, while Steenburgen is just as compelling as usual as a police detective. Horror fans can tune out for much of Living with the Dead and have their attention snap back by the end. A better-than-average “made-for-TV” movie, especially if you can make your peace with the running time.