Ghosts of the Ozarks

This could have been so much better if classified as 'suspense' and not 'horror' - which it isn't. Expecting a 'horror' genre led us to keep thinking, as we were watching, "When will the horror part start?". It never did.

Excellent acting, good filming, interesting plot. But trying to market this as a horror genre will disappoint many people, and put off an audience who would otherwise enjoy a suspense genre. Hence many negative reviews. Which is a shame for such a well acted film.

Austin Film Festival 2021 Greetings again from the darkness. Most mothers tell their kids, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." Young Doctor James McCune (Thomas Hobson) has decided to take up the offer from his Uncle Matthew (Phil Morris, who "Seinfeld" fans will recognize as outrageous attorney Jackie Chiles), and become the town doc in North Fork. The year is 1866, and after an eventful trip that sets us up for a horror film, James arrives to find one of the earliest 'gated communities'.

Upon arriving, two things stand out to James. First, it seems all of the North Fork citizens know his name and have been waiting on him to show up. Second, he's fascinated by the sight of a mixed-race community living in harmony. His bright-eyed awe shows his wondering whether this this some type of Utopian society? Not long after he realizes his Uncle Matthew holds the power position in town, James begins to notice the cracks in the façade of his new found paradise.

The town's characters are quite a bunch to behold. Torb, the multi-talented blind barkeep is played by the always-fun Tim Blake Nelson (recently seen in OLD HENRY). Tara Perry (the film's co-writer and wife of co-director Jordan Wayne Long) plays sharp-shooting Annie, not one for putting up with much drama. Her rather large, protective brother William is played by Joseph Rudd, while Angela Bettis as Lucille and David Arquette as Douglas play normal and annoying - I'll leave it to you to discern which is which.

"From one seed an entire forest can grow" is the film's opening quote, and it takes on an entirely different meaning as the story progresses. A gathering red fog indicates the menacing ghosts are present, but are the forest ghosts the real threat? Co-directors Jordan Wayne Long and Matt Glass, along with co-writers Long, Sean Anthony Davis and Tara Perry have adapted their 2016 short film into a ghastly fun feature, with Mr. Hobson and Ms. Perry reprising their roles. As we've learned power plays come in many forms, and sometimes legends are used to distract from the truth. Thanks to this film, I have a new guideline: any movie that features Tim Blake Nelson singing with an Irish accent is automatically worth watching.

The plot is simple - and one that should work with relative ease. James, a young doctor (Thomas Hobson), is invited to set up his practice in the remote, utopian town of North Fork in the post-Civil War Arkansas Ozarks. This town, of course, is set in their ways. They host their own internal secrets, while fighting off an external supernatural menace. Ghosts of the Ozarks had the potential to be gothic and creepy; low-lying fog and the full moon are every horror fan's friends. The mystery could have been a slow, involved burn with Shyamalan-ian twists. Instead, the movie is hampered with sub-par acting, generic dialogue, and ridiculous Civil War cosplay. Truly, North Fork's ghost wouldn't even have kept the Scooby Gang overly occupied.

If Ghosts of the Ozarks had a style to its production, the amateur acting from its primary cast of Hobson, Perry, and Phil Morris as the town's mayor, could almost be excused. But the movie looks flat and dull. The story is a dud that even Tim Blake Nelson with a cleaver could not cut with any excitement. XYZ Films, the movie's distributor, is known for chancy, genre flicks (Nic Cage's Mandy, anyone?). Ghosts of the Ozarks has a ghost of a chance to entertain even the basest of genre fans.

I watched this movie just for David Arquette, the plot seemed interesting as well but sadly I didn't like it. It took me too long to understand what was going on through out the film and that's why I couldn't enjoy it. Even when I finally understood I didn't like what I saw. It was super boring as well and I'm sad it turned out that way for me.

Right, well I hadn't even heard about this 2021 mystery thriller from writers Sean Anthony Davis, Jordan Wayne Long and Tara Perry before now in 2022 as I sat down to watch it. So I had no idea what I was in for here, but I have to say that I found the movie's cover and title interesting.

Directors Matt Glass and Jordan Wayne Long sort of manage to deliver a good enough movie. I liked the build up and the staging of the entire storyline. However, the reveal and the actual truth as to what was going on sort of felt very anti-climatic. And for me, once it became clear what was going on, I felt like I had essentially just wasted about an hour and a half of my life on the movie, as the reveal was sort of a slap to the face.

Initially then I was rather impressed with the cast ensemble that were in "Ghosts of the Ozarks", with the likes of Thomas Hobson, Phil Morris, Tim Blake Nelson, Angela Bettis, David Arquette and more. So there definitely were some talented people involved with the movie.

Visually then "Ghosts of the Ozarks" was good. It wasn't an over-the-top special effects movie, and with good reason. But I will not reveal the ending or what was going on. You have to experience that for yourself. But I will say that the effects were brooding and definitely added a good atmosphere to the movie.

"Ghosts of the Ozarks" was sort of a slow paced movie, but the building up of the entire scenario and atmosphere was well-deserving of a slow paced narrative. Just a shame about that atrocious reveal.

I was adequately entertained by "Ghosts of the Ozarks", but this is hardly a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend anyone to rush out and get to watch.

My rating of "Ghosts of the Ozarks" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.