José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984)
Director Roland Emmerich is nowadays best known as the man behind blockbusters such as "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow", big budget science-fiction films where he has shown a mastery for the use of grandiose and awe-inspiring visual effects. While he may not be the most original and artistic director, Emmerich has truly developed a style of his own, a style that owes a lot to his spiritual guides, the great 80s masters of fantasy, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg; and as this little early film named "Joey" proves, it's a style that Emmerich has been developing since the early years of his career, back when he was a young director in his natal Germany, many years before his first big hit, "Universal Soldier"."Joey", known in the U.S. as "Making Contact", is the story of a 9 years old kid named Joey (Joshua Morrell), who after the tragic death of his father, begins to experience psychic powers allowing him to move inanimate objects with his mind, set things on fire and even to communicate him with his dead father. However, not everything is good for Joey as his newly gained powers accidentally awake an evil supernatural force that is contained inside the body of an old ventriloquist's dummy that Joey found in an abandoned house. The supernatural Dummy shows similar powers to Joey's, and soon he puts the lives of everyone near Joey in danger as the evil Dummy has dark plans for Joey's special powers.Written by Emmerich himself, along with Hans J. Haller and Thomas Lechner, "Joey" is pretty much a supernatural horror movie on the lines of Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg's "Poltergeist", but done with the approach of a fantasy movie for children (like "E.T.", also by Spielberg). The premise is very original, but sadly the script's development is quite typical of its time, although to be fair with it, the German version of the film (that runs 20 minutes longer) is a slight but noticeable improvement over the dubbed U.S. version. Focused on Joey, the film works more as a creepy adventure film than a horror movie, mainly because the story is written in a way that highlights the main character's fight versus the evil force instead of the horror created by the Dummy. While the movie focuses on the action and adventure, this is not to say the film doesn't have good creepy moments, as it is packed with some very good (for the budget) visual dark imagery that forecasts Emmerich's taste for big budget special effects. It's really interesting what he does with his minimal resources, and one can say that at this early point in his career he knew the kind of films he wanted to do in the future. As with the script, the German uncut version allows a better picture of Emmerich's direction, that while not really masterful, it's competent and effective for the kind of movie he was trying to make. The similitude with "E.T." and "Poltergeist" is not gratuitous, as nods to both Spielberg and Lucas are very common in the film; this just shows how much the young German director admired his heroes.The cast is really average, and this is really one of the film's weakest points, as the lack of experience of the cast (specially of the kids) becomes increasingly notorious given the fact that the director was at this point unexperienced as well (and being honest, directing actors has never been Emmerich's strongest characteristic). Anyways, Eva Kryll is the only actress with real experience, and as such delivers the best performance of the film, although her character is really small and doesn't really have enough screen time. Also, I guess one can say that the casting of Joshua Morrell was truly inspired, as the young actor really looked natural in front of the camera.As written above, the unexperienced young cast paired with the unexperienced young director is likely a deadly combination for any film, and "Joey" has this as its biggest flaw. However, Emmerich manages to pull off a nice entertaining adventure of this that while not perfect, is a lot better than what could had been. The script isn't really amazing, and at times shows up some serious plot holes, but nothing really to worry about. "Joey" was intended to be a children's horror movie, and in that aspect it succeeds, as this movie is the perfect introduction to the horror genre for young children.I can not recommend this movie to everyone, as definitely it won't be attractive to the average horror fan, but I'm sure the kids will enjoy it a lot more, as the movie has a nice mix of horror, adventure and comedy. "Joey", like Emmerich's other early films ("The Noah's Ark Principle" and "Moon 44"), shows the young talent of a visionary master of visual effects, that while probably not a very accomplished director, manages to make entertaining and attractive films that deliver good doses of entertainment. "Joey", or "Making Contact", is definitely one of the best horrors to enjoy with the kids, although it doesn't really offer something for the grown-up crowd. 6/10
jacobobergareche
I used to rent this movie when I was a kid over and over again, with that compulsion little kids have, of watching something 500 hundred times until they've learnt all the dialogs. I remember it scared the s**t out of me, no matter how many times I saw it. I was 7 or 8. It was on the threshold of my tolerance to horror. It was exciting to go through it again with all your friends. Saw it many years before and it had lost all its spell. It's quite frankly, a lot rubbish. However, it has that something that mesmerizes little kids, whatever it is. Probably not an accomplishment of its director, but a fortuitous by-product.
Zantara Xenophobe
This review contains some SPOILERS.Way back when we first got a VCR (about 1987), my sister and father rented some movie about a boy and a possessed ventriloquist's dummy. I happened to see a few scenes of it before wandering off to do other things. Trouble is, the scenes that I did watch got embedded in my memory and I couldn't shake them out. Ever. And it wasn't until a year or two ago when I finally found out the title to this mystery movie, `Making Contact,' and then recently I found it available for rent. Finally I could put some childhood demons to rest. Had I know the bad experience I would eventually have put myself through, I never would have watched those few scenes back in 1987.
Joey is an unpopular little kid going through the ordeal of having recently lost his father, which we are thrust into from the very first scene. No time for scenes with the dad before his death, just start right in on the funeral. But the death of his father makes Joey realize an inner power he has. He has the ability to move objects and bring his toys to life. He also starts talking to his dad on his toy telephone. He tells his classmates and becomes a laughingstock, worrying his teacher. One day he wanders into a nearby abandoned house and discovers the ventriloquist's dummy of the house's previous owner. It comes to life and proceeds to rant about how the ventriloquist's ghosts wants to control Joey. So Joey must enter the old house once again and face the evil force within. People have been comparing this to `E.T.' There is some truth to the comparison, but what I kept noticing were comparisons to some Twilight Zone episodes I saw awhile back. Particularly, the kid talking to his dad on the toy telephone. But that stuff doesn't matter much. The movie still isn't very good. Roland Emmerich's direction is very murky and his writing is very poor. Here's a few head-scratchers for you should you decide to sit down and watch this movie:---- Joey has the power to give life to his toys, but he doesn't seem able to actually control them. His little toy robot seems to have developed a mind and personality of its own. But it is the only toy that behaves in this way.---- Is it just me, or does Joey's dad resemble Gabe Kaplan from Welcome Back, Kotter?---- Listen very carefully to the broadcast when the dummy conjures up the television set. The ventriloquist's back story is fascinating (what you can hear; Joey and the dummy keep talking over it, defeating the purpose of it all). The broadcast suggests there had been a series of child murders in the 30s. I wish it had gotten into this more, but perhaps Emmerich thought it would be too scary for kids. And of course, the intrigue of the ventriloquist is erased in the final moments when we know the truth. Its all very disappointing.---- It's funny how both the mother and teacher just accept Joey's power. They don't seem too concerned about what he might do with them should he get angry. And it is really hilarious when all those scientists come barreling down with thousands of dollars in tax payer's money at their disposal, with no proof other than an elementary teacher's word that it is all legit.---- Funny how the strange force doing all this is so powerful that it can build its vast underground maze full of surprises, yet it can't stop Joey from using the Solve-All-Your-Problems-Exit-Door even though it is right in front of him when he does it. I may have took home nothing from the substance of the movie, but at least that childhood demon is put to rest. Now if I can only track down that one horror movie about the underground albino people I will be free of them all. And it couldn't be as unrewarding as this children's ghost story was. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10.
