Plot: What’s it about?
Although Joey (Joshua Morell) is only nine years old, he has just attended the funeral of his father, who passed on without much warning. It was never suspected his father was sick or even close to death, but just the same, his life was taken in an instant. Of course, this is highly traumatic for Joey and his life is thrown into a kind of chaos, one in which he has to let go of some things, only to discover new elements. His mind has tuned into some frequency that allows him to control things, to know things, in other words, Joey has found his telekinetic powers. At first, he finds little use for his newfound powers, but one day when his red toy phone begins to ring, he is shocked to hear the voice on the other end. As the phone is just a toy, to hear anyone’s voice would be a total shock, but when the voice belongs to Joey’s deceased father, he is more than shocked or stunned, but he is overjoyed to hear it once again. The phone conversations lead Joey to an abandon house, where he runs across Fletcher, a ventriloquist doll. This is not a normal dummy however, as Joey soon learns when he takes the doll back home. Fletcher is behind the supernatural calls and has immense psychic powers, but he plans to use his for evil purposes. Can Joey somehow defeat Fletcher’s evil powers, or will the doll overtake his young enemy’s mind?
This movie might not be the “supernatural shocker” the case claims, but you might be shocked by the volume of material lifted from other movies. Yes, Making Contact is a mishmash of sci/fi and fantasy movies from the 1980s, which director Roland Emmerich clearly loved and wanted to create one of his own. So we have a little from this hit movie, a dash of that one, and then a few new twists thrown on top, to conjure up the story of a young boy, his possessed ventriloquist doll, and authority figures who don’t understand what they’re up against. A lot of references are dropped to E.T. and Star Wars, but if you watch and listen, you’ll pick up on countless others, as Emmerich drew from a wide pool of inspiration here. I think this was supposed to be a fun, popcorn movie, but it takes some dark turns and tries to be serious at times, which prove to be the weakest, but most enjoyable sequences found in Making Contact. You know this isn’t a good movie in the usual sense, but it has some worthwhile moments and if you can enjoy bad sci/fi, then this one has plenty of potential as a MST3K style bash release. So as bad as it can be at times, it can still be fun to watch, if only to fans of bad cinema. Anchor Bay has even thrown in the extended German version of the film, which bumps this release up to recommended, for those interested.
Roland Emmerich is best known for his American blockbusters like Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot, but its nice to see where he started. Emmerich’s taste for the supernatural and grand is obvious in his earlier works, including this one, Making Contact. The critics of Emmerich could note his methods of lifting elements & themes from more popular movies of the time, a notion he has often been cited for in his more recent efforts. Making Contact shows little of his potential as a filmmaker, since he borrows a lot from other pictures, but I suppose one could mention the small touches he adds, to make them his own. Even in an obvious cash-in movie like this one, Emmerich’s knack for the spectacular is evident, with a wide scope of flashy visuals and crude, but mostly effective special effects on showcase. I’m sure he felt very limited by the low budget involved, but it seems as though Emmerich used all the tricks he knew to enhance the production values, as to make it appear to be more expensive than it was. Other films directed by Emmerich include Moon 44, Ghost Chase, Universal Soldier, and The Noah’s Ark Principle.
Video: How does it look?
Making Contact is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This looks much better than I expected, as given the film’s low profile, I assumed it would be worn & poorly kept, but that isn’t the case. The prints for both versions look very clean and show minimal wear, a much welcome surprise, without a doubt. I saw some light grain at times, as well minor nicks and such, but on the whole, the prints look terrific here. The colors are bright enough, with a nice overall impression and flesh tones seem natural throughout. This is a dark movie in a lot of scenes, but the contrast holds up well and delivers remarkable black levels at all times. In the end, another great treatment of a little known movie by Anchor Bay.
Audio: How does it sound?
The U.S. theatrical edition comes equipped with a Dolby Surround EX mix, which might not blow the doors down, but it sounds quite impressive. Now this is a low budget movie from the 80s, so let’s not expect a reference level experience, but as far as the material is concerned, this is about as good as it gets, brothers and sisters. A nice amount of surround use is present, which enhances the more active scenes and even spices up the more reserved ones, so I commend Anchor Bay for their extra effort here. Now with the German edition, the audio is not as good and based totally in the front channels, which causes some congestion at times. The German version also includes optional English subtitles, should you need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This release includes the American & German theatrical trailers.
