Grade:  C+

Director:  Steve Beck		Released:  October 2001
Writer:  Neal Stevens, Robb White		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, F. Murray Abraham		Running time:  91 minutes

Ratings System

This could have been one of the best horror movies ever.  I'm not kidding.

First, the ghosts are awesome.  the design and implementation are top notch.  The premise that the ghosts cannot be seen (except through special goggles) is very good, full of potential.  When there are a limited number of goggles to go around, so only certain characters can see the ghosts at any given time ... well, in this movie it's not executed very well.  But it could have been great!  Back to the ghosts themselves.  The makeup and the speed-up film technique combine to make some very scary ghosts.  The Jackal is particularly creepy.

I only wish they had played down the humor.  If they had played it more straight, a lot of this movie would have been very scary.  I also really like the idea of a ghost story set in a glass house, where you can see everything.  Most "scary" movies are about hiding things from the viewer, here's a scary movie that shows us everything, and we're still scared.

Too bad the dialog sucks ass.  The way Shalhoub calls his son "the kid" is grating.  And most of Lillard's dialog is delivered in a half or full scream ... hmmm ... well, it ain't Shakespeare.

- crocoPuffs