I also added another star after I saw the ending. Like the other posters, I thought of Frequency as the movie progressed. However, the resemblance to Frequency pretty much ended with the idea of corresponding with a loved one over the radio across time to change the future. That's a pretty basic premise and similar things have been written over the years using the same premise. As a writer, I know that the same premise can be used to create many different stories, so I don't fault that. One big difference between the two films is that in Frequency, the main character knows he is speaking with his father throughout much of the movie and in Dead Air the main character does not know that the person with whom he speaks is in the past.
The movie is clearly not done on a summer blockbuster budget, but I never got the feeling it was "shot on an iphone 3." The direction appeared to be good and, while the shots were simply done without many effects, I thought they were effective. Everything had a clean feel, with sets being spare and the story carried by the characters, which I enjoyed. The characters unfolded over the length of the movie, becoming more well-rounded over time. The big reveal at the end is not a shocker, but rather a carefully crafted event. It's been set up with hints (some stronger than others) over the first two acts, so that the view is almost begging for the director to confirm what the viewer suspects he or she knows.
The acting, to put it gently, was not on the level of a summer blockbuster either. Kevin Hicks seems less comfortable in front of the camera than he is in front of it and in one scene the girls seem to be overacting just because they can. Unlike some movies, though, William was never supposed to be anything other than a simple person--educated, well-traveled, but down-to-earth and unsophisticated--and his daughters were just young girls at the stage when bratty defiance is the name of the day. Eva was an intriguing character with a lot more subtlety about her than the first viewing of the movie implies at the outset. Of all the characters, I think she was the best-acted. All the same, none of the characters were mere cardboard cutouts and by the end the viewer can feel empathy for everyone involved.
I truly enjoyed the film and really want to give it even more stars. The lack of preachiness was a breath of fresh air and both Kevin and Vickie Hicks deserve a huge thumbs up for it. All of the storylines were pretty well tied up at the end, without anything seeming terribly forced. I also liked that the entire movie was not filled with profanity and cursing. Strong language was used effectively, accentuating the anger that people were feeling or their despair. The film left me with the desired effect, emotionally, at the end. I was perhaps a little wistful rather than "blown away" by the "what ifs" at the end, but I imagine that Vickie Hicks would be satisfied by my reaction both as a writer and as an actress. I might have added another star if I were more "blown away," but I was not disappointed by the outcome.
Overall, I think the film was credible, with a lot of things going for it. I won't say that it was correctly classified as "horror," and not simply because of its lack of supernatural monsters or gore. Dead Air is a creepy think piece, a paranormal thriller, but not strictly horror. I think that it would be more fairly reviewed as a suspense or thriller film, either of which contained paranormal elements.
Kevin Hicks has directed other films that seem to fit the paranormal thriller subgenre better than they do horror. I plan to check them out to see how his direction (and Vickie's writing) are progressing with their projects. I think Hicks would be a decent director for major films, given the chance and the budget, based on what little I've seen so far. It is, in my mind, a solid seven, knocking on the door of an eight. I've given "summer blockbusters" a similar score (for different reasons), so I should be saying "thank you" to the Hicks team for a movie I enjoyed a great deal without suffering through pretension to watch.
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