Ghost Town (2009)

Pretty Good

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I happened to catch a portion of this movie on the Sy-Fy channel about a year ago and since it looked pretty good at the time I decided to procure a copy recently. Having now seen this movie in its entirety I can honestly say that it wasn't too bad. Essentially, "Reb Halland" (Billy Drago) is the leader of an outlaw gang back in the days of the old west who has made a deal with the Devil for immortality. "Preacher McCready" (Gil Gerard) is a mystic who comes to the town of Hope Springs to protect it from Reb Halland's gang by erecting 5 Wiccan totems in various places. His plan works to perfection until a man comes along and pulls one out of the ground. When that happens all hell breaks loose as Reb's gang kills everyone in town—on a Friday the 13th no less. They then commit suicide and wait for an opportunity to kill again. Fast forward to the present when a bus carrying students from Carmel College find themselves in this same town—and it just happens to be on a Friday the 13th. Now rather than reveal any more of the film and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that for a made-for-television movie it had decent special effects and enough suspense to keep things somewhat interesting for the most part. Likewise it didn't hurt to have two attractive actresses in Jessica Rose (as "Jenna") and Annabelle Wallis ("Serena"). Again, while it certainly wasn't the best horror movie ever made I found it to be enjoyable enough and I rate it as about average.

After their bus mysteriously gets lost, a bunch of college kids find themselves trapped in a Wild West Ghost Town inhabited by evil spirits.Not awful by any means, as these budgeted TV productions go, it has some inventive death scenes (death by gasoline vomit a personal favourite here), Billy Drago as a venomous Cowboy spirit and some canted angles used for good atmospheric impact. Hell! The blending of maths stars and jocks, which while not original, makes for an interesting group dynamic and lets the writer (Andy Briggs) set up a decent finale as the remaining youngsters try to work out a way out of hell by using brain and brawn.Unfortunately director Todor Chapkanov seems to think that jitterycam is the way to go at every given opportunity, something which really hinders the atmosphere trying to get out. Then there is the MTV "R" US musical score/soundtrack that booms out inappropriately like proof was needed that noise does indeed annoy. While the town itself looks like some left over mock up from an American Adventure Theme Park.Filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, it ultimately comes down to a bunch of pretty looking college kids (one of whom looks like Vin Diesel) getting killed amid angst, bullying and sexual yearnings. But like the characters in the story, the film seems stuck in a filmic purgatory, not really sure if it wants to slash, spook or yeehaw its way into our conscious. But as Syfy Channel time wasters go it just about passes muster. 4/10

Ghost Town did have a good idea to start with. With the opening sequence, which sets the tone very well, you'd think it would be a decent movie at least. Unfortunately, it very quickly descends into amateurish tedium. I have seen worse-looking movies, but the crude editing, often dull lighting and the rather slapdash(though I have seen far worse) effects does make it a film where the low-budget really does show. Even the make-up has a real lack of originality. The music is too obvious, a large part of why the scares and such weren't done so well, and nothing really stuck out as memorable. The dialogue is terrible, it all feels hackneyed and it gives a very unnatural flow. The story is one that tries to be a slasher movie, a western and a ghost movie. It doesn't do either of those well at all. Much of it is worthless filler. With slasher scenes, you'd expect scares that make you bite your nails and a feeling of dread. With these scenes, it has gore but little else. I like westerns just as much as the next person, but there is nothing exciting or adventurous on display here. Likewise with the ghost aspects. The ghosts had real potential but are not menacing and not used well. It all reads of them giving nothing to do that is worthwhile other than predictable things, and as a result the spooky atmosphere is low on the radar. Even episodes of Scooby Doo was scarier than this entire movie. And when are SyFy ever are going to do their research, the worst was in regard to Wicca, which didn't exist until the 20th century which is the opposite of what Ghost Town implies. I hated the characters just as much. Whether they are stereotypical or not doesn't actually doesn't bother me, a large amount of movies has one stereotype at least. But it is an entirely different matter when the high school kids are so annoying that you'd finish them off given the choice and no thought whatsoever is given to the villains, with only the character Reb Halland given anything that is of note. The acting is atrocious, the kids can't act their way out of a paper bag, most of them are wooden, with one even slipping into what sounds like a New Zealand accent that is somewhat disconcerting, and none of them show any genuine sense of fear or tension giving their predicament. Billy Drago looks intimidating but has little to do other than sneering reasonably effectively. All in all, Ghost Town had an opening sequence that was decent but any potential was wasted to the point that you actually question what was the point? 2/10 Bethany Cox

The opening set-up isn't bad. An Old West town in 1866 is invaded by some ruthless gunslingers, who just happen to be cultists. An out gunned sheriff, and a minister stand in their way, winding up with bullet holes in their chests along with everybody else in town. The dying Christian minister, who (ready?) practices Wickan beliefs (hey, I didn't write this thing) leaves a message in blood on a window. Finally, the cultists shoot themselves.Then the film disintegrates. Modern day: noisy teens arguing. On a bus. You'll know exactly the order of deaths from how stupid they each act in this scene. The ghosts make the bus and everybody's cell phones stop working. How come ghosts from the 19th Century always seem to understand modern technology? Soon, the old smooching couple in a hayloft getting attacked routine becomes the first cliché. There's a lot of jabbering about pentagrams, Friday 13th, and other stuff, but not much point to why it's all happening. The only reasons I could see for the ghosts' wanting to blast everybody would be either: 1) the teens were transparent one dimensional characters that were simply annoying, and/or 2) most of the cast sorely needed acting lessons. Whatever their reason was, these ghosts kill creatively; one guy even meets his end spitting up motor oil.There's enough weirdness in this to make it an OK watch. But don't expect a whole lot from it.