The Ghosts of Edendale

Reminds one of "The Shining" and "Rosemary's Baby" and, NO, not of that high caliber production. This is bootstrap film making. The thing about slogging through the ground covered by the two films mentioned above is that it's such rich ground to go slogging in. It's no shame to target those same "feelings". It's a rich mine and can be returned to time and time again without becoming pale and impotent. It's a powerful niche of our psyche and this film nudges those fears and suspicions into the light with a very slight hand. The ending wobbles off into non-closure but that evasive ending is a tool to wield in this kind low-keyed film. Not a whole lot new here (except that OHMYGOD kid in the closet and the skin-crawl faces in the fence) but this isn't new territory. As so often in low dollar productions, the unpolished mannerisms of the film add rather than detract. This would never work as a high-dollar movie. The overdone FX, required in a large budget film, would reduce effect.

EDENDALE isn't in competition with anything. It's a favor for those of us who don't mind re-entering familiar territory that owns a lot of landscape. So much of horror is "tell me the same story I love so much but change it up just a bit, play with me...and give it an edge".

Not new stuff. Not great stuff. The actors are really good bad ingredients. The wife has the heaviest role and, for 99% of her screen time, nails it. Husband has the hardest role; so delicate the lift of an eyebrow can be overdone. The "neighbors" were overripe - the audience gets it already, we're not stupid.

I like movies that "creep" at you instead of "leap" at you.

A horridly disfigured and over-sized figure screaming out of the dark and swinging an axe is one kind of fright.

A noise in the corner of a dark room where nothing is supposed to be is another kind of fright.

The first is over in a moment. The latter may haunt you for weeks.

EDENDALE has a low terror count, but a high "creep" count.

It doesn't matter this a well trod trail. We'll gladly trod it again when someone else chooses to takes us by the hand and lead us there.

As much as I would love to give the cast and crew credit for this independent effort, I can't recommend it. In fact, in many ways this is the epitome of what's wrong with most indie films: bad acting, clumsy direction, poorly developed characters and a threadbare script.

"The Ghosts of Edendale" has an interesting premise. A couple, hoping to strike it big in the entertainment industry, moves into a neighborhood where Hollywood history was made during the silent era. They encounter quirky neighbors who seem to know a bit too much about them. The man becomes increasingly strange as his obsession with his script grows, while the woman becomes increasingly alienated by his coldness, frustrated by her modeling career, and spooked by the visions she sees in the house.

Unfortunately, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. "The Ghosts of Edendale" fails to build any suspense, the actors lack passion for their roles, and the script is burdened with clichés about Hollywood being a "tough town." When the filmmakers run out of ideas about where the story should lead, they pile on embarrassingly bad digital effects in a failed attempt at dramatic tension.

I will continue to support independent efforts — especially in the frequently disappointing horror genre — but films like this really try my patience. John Cassavetes made remarkable indie films 30 years ago, but it seems today anyone with a camcorder, a handful of friends and a free weekend is becoming a filmmaker.

To the independent visionaries with ideas, I say: More power to you. To the cast and crew of "The Ghosts of Edendale," I say: Better luck next time.

About 10 minutes into the movie, as the handyman started working on the hot tub... my friend turned to me and said "Wait a minute, is this movie a porno?"

I opened my mouth to say "No", but I hesitated. I rented this movie without knowing anything about it. The rental store DID stock pornos. All I could say was "I'm... I'm not sure. I thought it was a ghost story."

After about 20 minutes my friend started eyeing the clock saying "Hey, come on, 'Alias' is about to start."

I said "Shhh.. just give it a chance." This was the second rental I had brought to my friend's house. The first one had bombed, I wasn't ready to give up and declare myself 0-for-2 so quickly.

Then the two lead characters disrobed, and climbed into the hot tub. *Egad!* I thought. *It IS a porno!* But after a two minute sexcapade in the hot tub, and not a single flash of explicit nudity, the lead actress spotted an evil face ON the fence behind the hot tub.

That's when it all sank in. This movie was actually trying to be scary! I sighed, suddenly I was far less forgiving of all the shortcomings of this movie. Sure, I can excuse a cheaply-filmed and flatly-written movie if it's a porno, but this was a legitimate attempt at serious film-making.

Oh, and on to some real gripes about the movie: If the special effects are not the strong point of your film, why feature them so prominently? Particularly throughout the climax? If anyone was taking the movie seriously up until then the deluge of effects would have killed it for them. Fortunately for me and my friend it provided some much needed laughs as a reward for sticking it out through this entire movie.

0-for-2. Thanks "Ghosts of Edendale"!

And P.S.: I'll try and keep this part vague, so it doesn't act as a spoiler... but come on! She left her sister to go get BOXES?!? Are you kidding me?

Accepting the idea that any film is only as good as its final product, "Edendale" more-less misses the mark...but there is definite potential in the mix. Clearly this film, a ghost story taking place in Hollywood environs, had a VERY meager budget. Fortunately, there are enough interesting ideas in play to keep this watchable despite obvious funding limitations and the usual shortcomings of amateur film-making (comparing this to a major film is unrealistic...if your tastes lean toward a more polished, technically adept film, don't bother to knock here). Some definite moments of creepiness in this little film make me wonder how the guys behind it might fare with some financial aid..."Edendale" is by no means grand-scale entertainment, but how many films this low on the totem ARE? I'm relatively impressed with the results of this project, and have high hopes for many of those involved for the future.

4.5/10

well yet again i have given another low-budget film a try. this one was extremely dull and the girl that played Rachel? yeah...she sucked. none of the other characters rocked my world either. the special effects were really cheesy and i found myself shaking my head in disbelief. thank god i didn't spend money on it! how do people get away with putting this crap out to the masses? the ONLY reason i am even giving it a "2" is because i think it made me do one of those suspenseful/scary movie "jumps" that you do when something happens you don't expect. otherwise it was a total waste of time...take my word for it.