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REVIEW: ‘Ghost House’ is a Skillful, Moody Ghost Story

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A young American woman named Julie (Scout Taylor-Compton) is haunted by an angry spirit after she is tricked into desecrating an ancient Thai shrine known as a Ghost House in this thrilling movie of the same name.  Ghost Houses are located all around the Thai landscape and regarded as sacred. According to lore, they offer places for those who have passed to occupy themselves so they don’t bother the living.

Julie and her boyfriend Jim (James Landry Hebert) are on a special vacation in Thailand wherein he aims to ask for her hand. But things take a haunting turn after they meet two British lads with a more nefarious agenda.

Immediately after taking a small effigy wrapped in cloth from one of these niches, she becomes possessed by a vengeful, scorned crone who happens to hate young women because they remind her of her cheating husband.  Burned to death in an act of her own vengeance, the spirit is scarred and hideous as she makes frequent appearances at unexpected times.

Look for a creepy scene involving a digital camera and a photo scroll.

Early on, local spiritualists are able to expel the ghost from Julie’s body, but it’s not over. The specter is determined to repossess her and there are only three days in which to make sure that doesn’t happen because if it does, there is nothing anyone can do and Julie will cross over for good.

Ghost House is the Taken of the supernatural realm as Julie’s fiancé does everything he can to expel the curse with the help of a local taxi driver named Gogo (Michael S. New). During this time Julie slips in and out of the spiritual world while the ghost does the same.

Rich Ragsdale is at the helm of this very effective and moody horror movie. He’s got the goods as far as his cinematographer, Pierluigi Malavasi, who never wastes good lighting or storybook location scenery, and the score done by Ragsdale himself creates an atmosphere of melodic haunts.

With Ragsdale locking in those two elements with effective results, the rest is left to his cast which we all know can be hit-or-miss in these movies. Luckily for us, Ragsdale keeps them focused and convincing.

Taylor-Compton as Julie is non-perfunctory. She goes from confident and self-actualized to haggard, disoriented and genuinely terrified. It’s this dedication to the character that sells a big part of the movie.

James Landry Hebert as her fiancé Jim makes realistic choices to help Julie recover as they go from real life applications into the depths of incorporeal first aid.

This is also a travelogue of exotic Thailand and is filled with local characters who don’t turn off their accents or traditions to meet with the PC police of the west. This isn’t homogenized filmmaking; you get the location, you see the people who live there too.

Ghost House makes no attempts at redefining its Tartan Asia Extreme roots, but the soil in which it’s planted is rich with talent, a beautiful score, stunning cinematography and an engaging story. The result is an overall experience ripe with satisfying supernatural low-hanging fruit.

Ghost House is currently available to rent or buy on Amazon or iTunes and other streaming services.

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Watch Deleted Predator Tree Chase Scene From ‘Prey’

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To celebrate the 4K UHD, Blu-ray™ and DVD release of last year’s movie Prey, 20th Century Studios has made available a deleted animated storyboard scene. In this clip, we see our heroine Naru in a foot chase with the Predator through the tree tops of the forest canopy.

The movie is already loaded with beautiful chase scenes and suspenseful set-ups but it is a shame we never got to see this one incorporated into the movie.

Prey came out on Hulu in 2022. It was a critical hit and fans seemed to love the unique stand-alone storyline. People did fall in love with Naru’s canine companion Sarii, whose real name is Coco. She had no previous film experience and was trained specifically for the movie.

The first video is the scene without commentary. The second one includes commentary from director Dan Trachtenberg.

With Commentary:

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‘Courtney Gets Possessed’ Looks Like The Satanic BFF Comedy of 2023

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So your ex is the Devil himself and you’ve moved on to someone new. In fact, you are about to marry that person. But Satan is the jealous type and isn’t giving his blessing to this new arrangement. What to do? That is the premise of the new horror comedy Courtney Gets Possessed.

Just by watching the trailer, we get a sense this is a comedy about girl power and we love that. Last year My Best Friend’s Exorcism focused on one friend trying to eject a demon from her girlfriend’s soul, but in this movie, it looks like a whole wedding party gets involved.

I do!

The Plot:

With her nuptials on the line and the Prince of Darkness lurking close by, Courtney does her best to protect her childhood home on the eve of the wedding. But when her ne’er-do-well sister accidentally invites Satan inside (known more casually as Dave), he possesses Courtney – throwing a demonic wrench into her happily-ever-after plans. Courtney’s ragtag team of reluctant heroes including her sister, perfectionist best friend, and skeptical future sister-in-law must find a way to exorcise Dave, reclaim Courtney’s soul, and get her down the aisle with as little bloodshed as possible. 

“In Sickness and in Hell” takes on a whole new meaning in this diabolically fun and thrilling romp. Audiences will be left pondering the line between love and possession and what it means to give ourselves to others. Will Courtney’s wedding bells ring or will they be drowned out by the screams of the damned? 

Courtney Gets Possessed is written and directed by Jono Mitchell and Madison Hatfield. Produced by Hatfield and Jordan Blair Brown. Executive Produced by Stephen Beehler, Jegor Jersov, and Jono Mitchell. Cinematography by Brett A. Frager. Composed by Jordan Bennett. A Peach Jam Pictures production.

Courtney Gets Possessed will be available on digital and on Demand, Friday, November 3.

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Vomit Bags Handed Out in Theaters as ‘Saw X’ is Called Worse Than ‘Terrifier 2’

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Remember all the puking folks were doing when Terrifier 2 was released in theaters? It was an incredible amount of social media showing folks tossing their cookies in theaters at the time. For good reason too. If you have seen the film and know what Art the Clown does to a girl in a yellow room, you know that Terrifier 2 wasn’t messing around. But it appears that Saw X is being seen a challenger.

One of the scenes that is apparently bothering folks this time is the one in which a guy has to perform brain surgery on himself in order to hack out a chunk of grey matter that weighs enough for the challenge. The scene is pretty brutal.

The synopsis for Saw X goes like this:

Hoping for a miraculous cure, John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure, only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer uses deranged and ingenious traps to turn the tables on the con artists.

For me personally, I still think that Terrifier 2 owns this crown though. It is gnarly throughout and Art is brutal and doesn’t have a code or anything. He just loves killin’. While Jigsaw deals in revenge or in ethics. Also, we see the vomit bags, but I haven’t seen anyone using em just yet. So, I’ll remain skeptical.

All in all, I gotta say I like both films since both are sticking with practical effects instead of going the cheapy computer graphics way.

Have you seen Saw X yet? Do you think that it rivals Terrifier 2? Let us know in the comments section.

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Photo:X/@tattsandcoaster
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