House of Ghosts

Christopher Mihm's House of Ghosts should have been called Castle of Ghosts as it is a thinly veiled tribute to the Schlockmeister of the fifties and sixties--William Castle. It is intended to be kooky, schlocky, and a bit slow. And it is. If you enjoyed those old fifties and sixties low budget offerings, then you should give this a try.

It takes a few minutes before you realise you are watching a great filmmaker pretending to be a really bad filmmaker, but stick with it and you will find yourself sucked in. The acting starts out over the top exposition heavy and hammy, but gradually shifts until without your having consciously realising it until the really good solid cast have drawn you in and are acting well enough to get jump scares out of almost unbearable tension upon their audience, before dropping back in to complete ham salad for the ending. Utilising actual techniques and camera tricks from the fifties and showing just how effective they and good make up can sell a movie you start to wonder why films today cost hundreds of millions when this director can turn out comparable stuff on a nothing budget of only $3000. I am going to seek out the rest of the films in the Mihmiverse ASAP.

I enjoy bad movies. I will not deny it. Especially old B horror movies. A friend of mine picked up House of Ghosts out of a dollar bin at a used bookstore in Minnesota. We thought it looked like a fun, schlocky, good time. What it ends up being is a movie that is desperately trying to recapture the magic of genre movies past. It falls flat on its face and instead we get a cheap imitation that completely misses the mark in all categories. Brutal film making. Embarrassing. I'm not a critic but I know what I like... and this, I do not like. Not worth your time. You can pick up a more entertaining movie out of a pack of 50 Horror Greats for $5.

With an estimated budget of only $3k, Christopher R. Mihm seems to have a recipe for success. HOUSE OF GHOSTS is my first Mihm experience and I must say I am looking forward to viewing his other films.

Yes, the budget shows. The acting is not very good, but not horrible. The story is nothing special. The setting is very simplistic. The special effects are not very special and are quite comical at times (like the dog on the wall). You would think this film is terrible by my comments thus far, yet I could not stop watching. Like the World's Ugliest Dog Contest, it had a certain charm to it.

I enjoyed the film being shot in black and white. While I already mentioned I was not too high on the acting, I did enjoy Justen Overlander. I think it is because he reminds me of Michael C. Hall (DEXTER, SIX FEET UNDER), who is one of my favorite actors. I think if given the opportunity, Mr. Overlander could act in much bigger budget films or in a TV Series. Granted, this is all I have seen him in, but I have a good feeling I will enjoy his acting in his other films as well.

So while HOUSE OF GHOSTS is obviously an extremely low budget film, and it shows, I could not stop watching it. Christopher R. Mihm appears to be a pretty talented man given the budget he had to work with. Writing, directing, producing and editing? That's a lot of work. Given a bigger budget and some help, I think he could become pretty successful in film making. Not that he is not successful now, because anyone who can get a film made is successful in my eyes (let alone getting 8 done in 8 years). So congratulations Mr. Mihm. I look forward to seeing your other films.

I have watched all of this groups movies I have come acrossed and this one is my favorite. When I first watched this my first thought was give this guy a bigger budget and let's see what he could do but I now believe the shoe string budget makes it work. The acting is uneven but some of the cast if regulars are quite good. But I think it's inexcusable to not list one of the stars of this movie the impact and lasting impression will stick with me and I'm sure anyone who's see's the movie will not forget that hairpiece. It is so bad it had to be by design which makes me like the movie even more. If you can put the movie snob in your head to sleep and you like the craptacular 50s b movies this will be a treat.