Making Contact (1985)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Best movie of this year hands down!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The one thing i can say about this movie is i LOVE IT, even thou it's from the 80's the special effects were fantastic. The Acting was not top form i would have to agree with that but a lot of it was dubbed over to change a lot of wording that was not in the script. Joshua Morrell played Joey very well for a 9 yr old and was a bit emotional at times in the film, the Ventrilliquist dummy did scare me when i was a child but thats just me, but when you see it close it was scary but love the Star Wars effect in the movie thats why i give it 10/10. I can watch this again and again and not get bored with it, the story line was spot on as well with the eerie music to go with it. My only view on this movie has to be mind blowing and edge of the seat, most viewers may not like it but thats their opinion on it - my opinion is watch it and see for yourself if you have not seen it, enjoy.

Without a doubt, "Making Contact" -- or "Joey" as it apparently is otherwise known, is one of the most horrendous, mind-numbing, plot less pieces of nonsense ever filmed. It is not even accidentally entertaining. The acting is deplorably bad, exceeded in banality only by both the dialogue and the script. Where it is not utterly nonsensical and moronic, the story line is wretched, clichéd, and predictable. The cast of nobodies and never-will-bes should be imprisoned for their performances. The ending is an unprecedented cinematic abortion so bad that it damaged the heads on my VCR. The disconnected vignettes that purport to convey a plot serve as unintended parodies of such contemporary films as "ET" (doctors and technicians specializing in paranormal activity treat stricken young boy in his own home, he dies, supernatural powers herald his restoration, he lives); "Poltergeist" (lots of toys and other stuff flying around for no apparent reason); "Ghostbusters" (supernatural forces use your own fears against you; clichéd fat kid sees enormous carnivorous cheeseburger); "Star Wars" (R2D2-style robot with fetching personality gratuitously accompanies boy everywhere); and "Goonies" (several pre-adolescents -- including scared fat kid in overalls yelling "Hey, wait for me!" -- survive multiple perils in a collapsing, underground structure). It appears that the forces behind the making of this abomination mistakenly believed that they had a sure-fire formula for a can't-miss money-maker. We are left to ponder their epic miscalculation. I feel dumber for having watched it.

at the time this film was made, it was cool for us "military brats." one of our own was in this film (actually, two). but anyway, i went to school on a military base in Stuttgart,Germany with josh morrell and ray kaselonis. my group of friends thought we were so cool because we went to see the movie in German (actually, it was pretty amazing that a bunch of middle school kids could actually understand what they were saying in German). it is nostalgic to see this again but can't believe how dorky it is! nevertheless, this film is a piece of our heritage as military brats at robinson barracks. it would be nice to know where these guys are now...

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.