Verdict
Summary
Like everything, it’s all a matter of taste and perspective, although Ghost Game isn’t going to garner much of a following, of that I can pretty much guarantee.
Plot:
Home invaders in a haunted house have the tables turned on them.
Review:
As if the world didn’t have enough problems already, Laura (Kia Dorsey) has a secret life with her underground shock website that streams herself and an associate as they “haunt” homes in real time … with people living there, completely unaware that they have home invaders living in their homes at the same time. The longest stretch of not being discovered by the homeowners is eight days, but when a livestream goes horribly wrong, Laura and her associate (played by Sam Lukowski) recalibrate their entire strategy because now they’ve broken laws even more serious than home invasion. Laura’s boyfriend Vin (played by Zaen Haidar) discovers how she spends her days by checking out her laptop, and instead of breaking up with her like he should have done immediately, he tries to up her game by suggesting they invade a haunted house and try to last more than the eight days. The “ghost game” is on! But things don’t go well almost from the start, as a new family has just moved into this home, and clearly something is off about the dad, who starts exhibiting disturbing and disturbed behavior, ruining an already fragile relationship he has with his wife and autistic child. Are there actual ghosts in the house, possessing the father? Well, we soon find out, but by then Laura and Vin – and their unstable associate – also become victim to the presence lurking in the house. Who is actually haunting who?
Several problems keep Ghost Game from advancing to “Go”: First, the characters are completely unsympathetic. Remember the movie Don’t Breathe where the home invaders break into the blind guy’s house and bad things happen? Similar situation here, but Don’t Breathe was better if only because the guy who lived in the house was a great foil for the scumbags who invaded his turf. Also, the movie here is simply not scary, with no suspense, no surprises (not really if you’re paying attention), and no real payoff. I recognize some of the behind the scenes filmmakers and producers: Director Jill Geevargizian did a stylish film I saw called The Stylist, and one of the producers of this was Mary Beth McAndrews, who is the editor in chief at Dread Central, so the intention and the passion to create a new horror cult film is obvious, but the movie just doesn’t work at all, and the ingredients just aren’t mixed right. I wasn’t crazy about Don’t Breathe either, but with that one, the tension was palpable and the casting was really good and even if I didn’t like it, the movie worked for a lot of people and spawned a sequel (which was better than the first one). So, like everything, it’s all a matter of taste and perspective, although Ghost Game isn’t going to garner much of a following, of that I can pretty much guarantee.
Dread / Epic Pictures recently released a Blu-ray edition of Ghost Game, and it comes with a commentary, and two short films.
