American Ghost Story (2014)

The Gist:

Three kidnappers, Toby, Cally and Jackie, are attempting to deliver two hostages to their powerful boss, Mr Arkadi. During their journey, Toby ignores the warnings given to him by a gas-station employee, who tries to stop them driving down a road which literally leads nowhere. In an attempt to get the hostages to Mr Arkadi quicker, Toby steals a map and drives down it anyway.

Things go from bad to worse for the trio as one of the hostages is accidently killed after attempting to escape in the aftermath of a collision with a mysterious white van. Now stranded on a seemingly never ending road in the middle of nowhere, the kidnappers must find a way to deliver the final hostage to the ruthless Mr Arkadi, and escape the supernatural force that is hell-bent on keeping them from ever returning back to civilisation.

The Review:

I like to think of myself as a horror fanatic. I’ve been watching the genre for as long as I can remember, but I have to admit, like most fans of horror, the films being released in recent years have been somewhat disappointing. Directors these days seem more interesting in making the horror as gross and as squeamish as possible, completely overlooking the fact that the one fundamental key to a successful horror movie is to show the audience as little as possible. Take the Saw franchise for example. These movies are known for their over-the-top, gruesome scenes of inhumane torture that makes the viewer feel sick just to watch. But if you were to take these scenes out of the films, it would have very little to work with. Compared to the 2001 classic The Others (starring Nicole Kidman), in which the audience sees virtually nothing for the entire film but are still terrified until the very end, the Saw movies just don’t hold a candle to it.

If we use the Saw movies and The Others as polar opposites on a scale of how successful a horror movie can be, American Ghost Story falls somewhere in the middle, perhaps leaning towards the less successful end of the scale. While the idea of being stranded on a deserted road, being hunted by supernatural forces seems like a good premise for a horror movie, it fails to deliver the scares I know it to be capable of. It would be easy to criticise the movie because of its low budget (which becomes very apparent when what looks and sounds like a cheap gimmick of the ghost from The Grudge appears), but the fact is, American Ghost Story let’s itself down without the obvious use of CGI. O’Brien knows how to set up his scares (which, credit where credits due, do crop up every now and then), but he repeats them constantly, and after the third or fourth time of the ghosts appearance, you’re left wondering ‘Okay, so what else have you got?’ There is also extremely confusing climax the movie comes to. There are subtle hints throughout the movie as to where the conclusion is heading, but nothing can prepare you for it…and to be honest, it’s not worth it. It feels like O’Brien has tried to take the next step within the horror genre, but has failed by over-complicating a less than satisfactory ending.

The best aspect of the movie has to go to the actor’s portrayal of their characters. David Hayter plays the cool, unrelenting leader of the trio who cares very little for his companions, with only his mission on his mind. Maria del Mar has been cast as the kind-of motherly role of Casey Hudecki, who plays the younger, almost naïve youngest of the kidnappers. Each of the actors play their roles well, and they never waver from who they’re supposed to be.

The Verdict:

O’Brien has taken a brave stab creating a drama within the horror genre, and you have to hand it to him – there are moments that have your heart racing in this film. He can be forgiven for the movies short-comings by arguing that this is his first attempt, but if this is all he has to offer, perhaps he should look into writing for a different genre, or perhaps stick to directing the films instead of writing them.

Certificate: 18

Director: Joseph O’Brien.

Starring: David Hayter, Maria del Mar, Frank Moore, Casey Hudecki.

Running Time: 88 minutes.

Release Date: March 9, 2015