Director: Luke Genton
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Title: N/A
Genre: Psychological/Thriller; Ghosts
Plot:
Forced to move in with his aunt, a down-on-his-luck man finds himself drawn to graverobbing a cemetery across the street in order to help make ends meet, but when a series of encounters and visions cause him to believe he’s being haunted he sets out to prove his very own sanity against the delusions.
Review:
Overall, this one wasn’t all that great. One of the film’s better qualities here is the rather fun and genuinely creepy ghost scenes that arise once the actual deed takes place. Despite tackling overly familiar genre tropes such as walking behind people who are unaware of their presence, suddenly and unexpectedly appearing when he least expects them or quick flashes of them moving when he looks away, there’s still a generally creepy presence of the ghosts here throughout the first half. As this opts for a psychologically-driven approach regarding the ghosts’ true nature of being there or if he’s going crazy, the film generates some solid tension and thrills as they start gradually becoming more involved in the story. As well, since this increased amount of screentime means an enhanced amount of action and confrontations within the final half, that gives this some enjoyable action at the finale as well as the thrills. These, though, are all that works here.
There are a few problems to be had here. The main issue is the wholly bland and unimpressive pacing that makes this one far too drawn-out for its own good. The opening scenes showing the latest graverobbing adventure and arguing over the initiative to do it on his own just doesn’t get this one going on a strong note, especially as the context clues for his life situation and their plan to rob graves in order to fix it all come later in the film. This idea of dropping us into the thick of their plan and then back-tracking to see what caused him to come up with the plan or what’s their goals to get away with it all start this off on a generally dull note without much in the way of genre activity. That’s compounded by the numerous side plots about their original need to engage in the graverobbing or the gambling issues that pop up which leave the pacing somewhat slack for the most part.
There are also big issues here with the inability to sell the others on the hauntings going on. Since this one plays so often within the realm of whether or not he’s genuinely seeing ghosts or is just tormented by a guilty conscience, there’s a real lack of urgency and intensity towards the scares since they’re only happening to him. That creates a really lessened impact in this if there’s no real threat to anyone else which is further troubled by the general inactivity they engage in as a whole. The continuous notion of flash-cut appearances around the house yet doing nothing beyond freaking him out rarely creates anything to the main drama-like tone established here for the majority of the running time which might be off-putting to some looking for a more intensive genre experience. All told, these issues are what hold this one down.
Overview: **/5
While the atmosphere and general setup here provide a lot to like, the fact that there’s plenty of other issues present both with the general attitude of the ghosts and the pacing present leave this one somewhat underwhelming. Only give this one a shot if you’re a fan of drama-driven indie genre efforts or find this one intriguing while those who aren’t turned on by the flaws should heed caution.
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