Ghosts Don't Exist

Look: if you're going to make a low budget movie:

1. Snappy dialog/script. None here. 2. Lighting: lighting is your friend. Either there was too much, or too little. The one minute long scene in the basement with total blackness was suspense-less. 3. Show, don't tell. Scenes where characters were huddled over a monitor. "Ooh, look at that!" Care to share with the audience. 4. Pacing. PACING!!!!! EDIT YOUR FOOTAGE! 5. Ever heard of blocking scenes? 6. Clearly, one of the characters in the movie is the HOUSE - like in The Shining, or the Amityville horror. So, why not go to some effort and find a house that has a sinister aspect? Gothic Revival, dilapidated late 19th/early 20thc - instead of what looks like an average home with vinyl siding! 7. Motivation: something other than "they've all lost people in their past and have ISSUES". Ugh. 8. At least ONE likable character? Someone for the audience to identify with? They're called "protagonists". The lead was not likable. 9. Close-ups are your friend. 10. Dialog that serves no purpose? Cut it. Silence is scarier than stupid dialog. What did Beckett say? "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness."

Anyway, save yourself a ruined evening, and avoid this film. Try the original "The Haunting" from 1963 if you want to see how this is REALLY done.

I just watched the movie, and it was just boring. The acting was bad. There wasn't anything scary about the movie. I really really like movies that this is trying to be but it fails. The acting was some of the worse. It makes no sense. I had to rewind scenes and watch them again and still it made no sense.

The editing was VERY choppy. The movie seemed to just drag on and on. It took what could have been a really great concept and dropped the ball very early on.

By the end I was only enjoying the movie to make fun of, in between yelling at the movie about how stupid the characters were acting.

I just got back from the preview of this film and what struck me as interesting is that the during whole ride home, a good 45 minute trip, I did nothing but discuss the movie with my wife. And as I sit down to write this, she mentions how she is worried about having nightmares - a very good sign as far as Horror/Suspense films go.

I had high expectations for this movie. I understood the level of effort, skill, and collaboration that was involved and was pretty sure it would turn out to be a decent flick. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised that Ghosts Don't Exist actually exceeded my expectations in many ways.

The level of production quality is evident throughout the film and all of the elements in GDE are very well-executed, thanks to a talented cast and crew. The cinematography and musical score really stood out as exceptional, and worked perfectly to emphasize the overall mood. But, in my opinion, what defines GDE is in the original storyline and how well it is both directed and portrayed by the actors.

There are some very tense and unnerving moments throughout the movie, but GDE doesn't rely on shock tactics to scare you. The film is definitely creepy, but in a tasteful way. At the same time, it's still a horror flick at heart, and has just enough violence and blood to do the trick. I would consider GDE to be a perfect balance of elements for this genre.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit and thought it was a huge achievement by 19th and Wilson, as well as an incredible collaborative effort by everyone involved.

I have seen some bad films and while this is no where near as bad as some I've seen it gets pretty close. Had it been a TV movie shown on one of those cheap cable movie channels I would have expected no more, but this bigs itself up to be a huge cinematic release and it would take a very successful cinema to show this, because it would have hundreds of empty seats once word got around. The acting is on par with some of the films SyFy pay to get made; the story is a muddle - I don't know if this is because of bad writing, bad editing or bad film making; but it was difficult to follow and parts of it made no sense. It's one of those films that leaves you thinking about specifics and realising that there is no rhyme or reason for it. The shame about it is that given to the right people it might have been a good film, but that would have required cutting away everything apart from the title and the idea that you can have a ghost hunter who is on his last case. I also found the blatant good reviewing by obvious stooges a very underhanded attempt at upping the film's rating. I'm disappointed that tactics like this are used, because they just come back and bite the reviewers' on the a$$. A poor show.

Brett Wilson (Phillip Roebuck), a TV ghost hunter, is persuaded by his father to do one last programme before retiring to wallow in grief after the tragic loss of his pregnant wife some months before. A man called Travis Garner (Joe Hansard) calls him and begs for help in investigating the ghost of Wilson's wife Nicole. What finally convinces him to investigate further are some intimate details of his wife that Garner reveals to Wilson.

Wilson sets off with his cameraman Ritchie (Frederick Cowie) and his assistant Jen (Devon Marie Burt). When they arrive at the house they meet another investigator David Sherman (Josh Davidson) that Garner has also called. Sherman is a professional sceptic who has made a career out of debunking paranormal investigators. He is an arrogant dick and a drunk and nobody likes him.

In Garner's house Garner tries to tell them about the ghost of Nicole but he is confused and fails to convince them. They go to leave and Garner pulls out a gun. Wilson is still going to leave when Garner gives him message from Nicole then puts the gun into his own mouth and blows his brains out.

The message is secret code that Wilson and Nicole had agreed on it and convinces Wilson to stay and investigate. More than that he shoots the tyres of their cars to stop the others leaving too. They set up their equipment and start to investigate while Sherman snarks at their gullibility, rolling his eyes as they bring out EMF meters and start hearing voices in static interference from the computer speakers.

They all start hearing voices and seeing fleeting glimpses of other people. It becomes obvious that there really is something dangerous in the house, a slow silent killer.

This film is better than I thought it was going to be. I have seen films with sceptics included just so they could prove the arrogant dick is wrong and for most of the film it certainly looks like this was going down that road but they don't.

I can't say it is an exciting film to watch but it is interesting enough. The budget is low so there's a small cast and almost no special effects.

Rating 6/10