I’m a
nostalgic kind of guy. If you poke around the website, you will see that I
watch and review a lot of old movies. These are what I grew up watching and
still love them. But nostalgia can be a double-edged sword. In the last ten to
fifteen years there have been a lot of filmmakers that have tried to recapture
the style and feel of the older flicks. Most of them fail miserably, but I keep
slogging thru. House of Ghosts bills itself as a tribute to William Castle, one
of my personal favorites. Those are mighty big shoes to fill.
We get an
opening monologue with the director that explains to the audience about the
fear shield. Basically, using something to hide your eyes if the movie gets too
scary for you. It also warns that the process used to make the ghosts appear
could also be fueled by you watching it. So ghosts could show up when you
watch… This feels a bit forced and has more of an Ed Wood vibe than it does
William Castle. Still it is a nice try.
After the
narrator the credits roll, and I immediately noticed that they tried and
succeeded to match the font and style from Castle’s House on Haunted Hill. Even
the music was almost spot on from the earlier movie they are trying to emulate.
Unless you are a big nerd like me you probably wouldn’t have noticed this at
all, so I give them props for spending the time and effort doing it. Then we
meet our main characters who are at a dinner party. The entertainment for the
evening is a medium who is actually a science guy with a machine that will
break the barriers between the land of the living and that of the dead. This
means that the rest of the movie is one ghostly encounter after another. That
is until we get to the ending, which is bit of a twist.
I’m
glossing over much of the plot so that I don’t give anything away. If you have
seen any of the movies of William Castle, then the fact that there is a twist
and a couple of lapses in logic shouldn’t be surprising. But the fact that
these are also present in House of Ghosts indicate that a lot of effort was
made in writing the script. Those involved clearly love the movies of William
Castle otherwise they wouldn’t have tried so hard. The dialogue is a bit
stilted and the acting can be over the top at times. Again, this is what I
would expect when sitting down to watch a Castle flick. Often when I’m
reviewing a movie like this I point out that it is incredibly hard to make an
entertaining bad movie without just making a bad one. They walk that tightrope
and absolutely nail it!
Cheesy and fun |
I was
pleased that they shot it in black and white. There is also a bit of hiss and
popping in the sound, but not so much that it feels forced. Too many times
these “throwback” films try to overdo the attempts to look or sound old and end
up distracting or annoying the audience. Here again they do just enough to put
a smile on my face. As an added bonus there is a totally cheesy looking effect
with a floating dog that is awesome!
I was
ready to not like this movie because I’ve been burned so often in the past. I’m
glad I gave House of Ghosts a chance because I enjoyed it a lot. The fact that
the director, Christopher R. Mihm, managed to shoot this on a micro budget of
around three thousand dollars boggles my mind. I’ve seen filmmakers with much
more money make totally unwatchable garbage. I’m going to have to track down
more of Mihm’s flicks. I recommend this one.
© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer