Little Murder

Set in New Orleans, this film is a strange mixture of genres -- part film noir and part ghost story. Josh Lucas plays a detective, guilt-ridden over the shooting of an innocent boy by mistake. He is assigned to a stakeout in an empty house across the street from a suspect, Terrence Howard, who is possibly implicated in a number of bizarre serial killings. The detective soon discovers that the stakeout house has a reputation in the neighborhood of being haunted. A young female musician was murdered there several years earlier, allegedly by her own brother, who has been placed in an asylum for the criminally insane. When the detective discovers he is able to see, hear, and even touch the ghost of this murdered woman, played by Lake Bell, he realizes that she can only find rest if he can find her real killer and thus set the brother (Nick Lashaway) free. Deborah Ann Woll (of "True Blood") and Sharon Leal play friends of the murdered woman, and as such, their own lives may be in jeopardy. Cary Elwes stands out as the villainous owner of a country club that may be a front for drug trading. The movie is an atmospheric indie thriller that manages to be both suspenseful and moderately entertaining, thanks to sterling performances from Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard. Thus far, its only DVD releases that I'm aware of have been in Germany and Australia. Hopefully, it will be available in the U.S. before long.

The opening scene reveals the problem with this film - if it was a home-made film, ala the Blair Witch project, it might be more forgivable, but even indie films should be able to do better camera work than this, better directing. It's particularly tragic as a supernatural mystery film in New Orleans sounds so good and the scenery was downgraded by the truly poor production - almost as if the director, cameramen and production crew were entirely trashed throughout filming. I liked the plot, the casting and though I'd watch a film just for Josh Lucas, here his acting was spotty (fading in and out of character, too blatant to be passed off by the character development that did happen) he was far outmatched by Terrence Howard. Deborah Woll and Cary Elwes are fun in their supporting roles and it's always good to see those two. Lake Bell is very pretty - not going to win any acting awards for this - but she didn't ruin the film. I'd say the cast must not have been overly inspired - hope nobody else gives this director a shot. What a shame because this could have been a much better film. Still, definitely worth watching if you're going to bed anyway and are watching it for free.

Oh where to begin....there is nothing particularly suspenseful about this movie. When I think of a ghost seeking justice, I think of What Lies Beneath or something similar. The fact that the victim in this movie is a ghost is virtually inconsequential.

I enjoy Terrence Stamp. This was just not a fitting role for him. A Casanova that quotes Shakespeare and dribbles philosophical parables, does not a great character make.

Everything in this movie just seemed entirely overdone. There was no room for nuance. I felt like that writer/director didn't have any faith in the audience to be able to decipher the clues in the story or the back story of the characters. I like to be able to think for myself with movies. When everything is spoon fed with bites that just can't be chewed, I just feel like shouting, "it was Colonel Muster in the kitchen with the candlestick." Hell's bells - I watched the Village and was still engaged with the suspense even when the audience and main character are informed of the Boogey Man is half way through the movie.

No room here for reflection. It's so obvious whom our serial killer is and that ghost lady might as well have not been dead. A word of caution spelled out on a foggy mirror just isn't scary. It's worse than cliche.

Josh Licas and Carey Elwes are two of my favorite actors as well. I almost wondered if they were behind in paying taxes to make this movie.

That's 97 minutes of my life that I will never get back....sigh....

Lucas convincingly pulled off this eerie tale of a police detective who not only was haunted by his past mistakes but haunted by the murder of beautiful young woman in the present. The storyline kept me interested and somewhat surprised to the end.

Mostly good actors and good story, poorly filmed and the character Barry's accent was a distraction.