New U.S. Release

Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour

By JOHN ANDERSON

A Freestyle Releasing release of a Sunset Creek production, in association with White Night Prods. Produced by Fred Comrie, John Comrie, Lisa Comrie. Executive producer, Mark Borde. Directed  by Lisa Comrie. Screenplay, John Comrie, Lisa Comrie, from a story by John Comrie.
 
With: Rissa Walters, Dan Comrie, Brian Comrie.
 

There's something clumsily charming about "Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour," which was produced by various members of the Comrie family and presumes to be the start of a homemade franchise. But the alleged thriller --  in which the pace is less breathtaking than seasonal -- only serves to point up how frenetic movies in the teen market have become, and how hard it might be to crack that market without a fleet of flying broomsticks, sex-addled adolescents or gargantuan budgets. Film's quiet opening  should end shortly, followed by modest sales on DVD.

Beset by bad lighting, limited visual imagination and acting so wooden it might have termites, "Sarah Landon" does boast the attractive, anti-glam Rissa Walters, whose title character becomes embroiled in a small-town case of revenge from beyond the grave. The story recalls a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys adventure with a dose of the supernatural, but helmer and co-writer Lisa Comrie could have fashioned her film to be more about character, which is its strength, than ghosts, which  is simply beyond its reach.

Camera (Technicolor), Andrew Kuepper; editor, Andrew Cohen; music, Joseph Conlan;  production designer, Kurt Braun. Reviewed at Mann Plant 16, Van Nuys, Calif., Oct. 19, 2007. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 81 MIN.