Steven Soderbergh’s new horror film ‘Presence’ gave me a headache

nypost.com:

The “Erin Brockovich” director moves his camera around so much, you want to yell at the screen, “Settle down, please! I have a headache!” There is a rationale for his nearly-nonstop motion shtick: the audience is experiencing the haunted house from the perspective of a ghost.

And this particular ghost apparently needs to get its steps in.However, aside from a couple creepy voyeuristic scenes that the technique complements, its more obvious purpose is for Soderbergh to show off elaborate tracking shots.

Running time: 85 minutes. Not yet rated.That flashy panache will get him some pats on the back at Sundance, of course, but I have a hard time picturing average movie-goers going along for the ride.The film starts, as so many scary flicks do, with a family moving into a suburban house that doesn’t look quite right.Whenever you spot a wide wooden staircase with oddly shaped lamps built into the bannister, you can be sure that Ryan Murphy is lurking nearby, ready to shove Zachary Quinto onto it.Mom Rebecca (Lucy Liu) dotes on her popular, high-school-age son Tyler (Eddy Maday) while dad Chris (Chris Sullivan) has a special connection to his quiet, somewhat rebellious daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), whose friend just died.Tyler’s pal from school, played by West Mulholland, also skulks around.While “Presence” is shown from the vantage of Casper, it’s mostly Chloe’s story, as the spirit is fixated on her.Even as the camerawork dilutes the acting, soft-spoken Liang makes an impression as a chilling ingenue trying to get her life back to normal after a tragedy.Not much of what Nearly Headless Nick does is all that frightening.