O Mistério de Ozarks

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.

The people being purely negative about this movie are not being fair. Anyone who has watched it knows that a lot of time, talent, heart, and soul went into it. It isn't by any means a "bad" movie at all, but it is however a really slow burn, and suffers from several scenes that could have been condensed a bit. At over 1:45 minutes, some padding could have been stripped.

The acting is pretty solid across the board, and the overall look and feel is well crafted. The special effects aren't terrible, but aren't groundbreaking either. Aside from the plodding pace at times, the ending is sadly an M. Night Shyamalan style brow-raiser disappointment for me. While I would never call this a film unworthy of a watch, it isn't one I'll be adding to my collection either. It's a great story with a lot of potential, but one that sadly doesn't live all the way up to it.

To be honest, for Horror movies these days, this one is going to strike many as very slow and uneventful. It is indeed very, very different from the 'Hip' Horror of today. It is a very old fashioned story set after the Civil War. Its strong points are that just as a film in and of itself, it is extremely well made. The acting across the board is very strong. There are many instances where because the characters are so well developed and portrayed, you really become emotionally attached to them and are genuinely moved by what happens to them. In many 'Modern' Horror movies this is rarely the case. So, the primary focus here is on character as opposed to a Slam/Bang story.

The atmosphere and time period are created in a deep, layered, and fully believable way. Another strong point is that right from the beginning an intriguing mystery is suggested as the audience wonders just what exactly is going on. I felt the tone and mood that the filmmakers created was quite effective. First presenting us with the almost Fairytale like village, and then slowly but steadily building an increasing sense of tension as the audience tries to figure out where this is going.

First and foremost, in my very lowly and wretched opinion, I just really appreciate the fact that the film is very well made. With such a slow building story, it is vital to keep all of the elements, the acting, the situations, the pacing just right in order to be successful to build to a good finish, which I honestly feel they do quite effectively.

But, be warned that this is NOT your run-of-the-mill Slash & Dash modern Horror movie. And, if you are looking for ANYTHING that even resembles modern day Horror, you are very likely to be disappointed. BUT... if you truly enjoy quality filmmaking in and of itself, and if you don't mind a very slow burn, low key build to the story, and I guess if you also happen to like the time period which is represented very well here, there is a chance that you might enjoy this very unusual, but well put together film.

***EDIT

After reading Ferguson-6's excellent review above, I just wanted to add that if you would like more details about the characters and such, his review will give you some excellent information about the flavour of the movie. I have a tendency to give more of an overview of how good of a film I thought it was and why, but without giving very many specifics.

So, I would HIGHLY recommend that you also make sure to read Ferguson-6's great review above (he also gave it a '7') 😊

A very odd movie indeed. Very low production values, it looks incredibly cheap. Most of the cast would struggle to get work in TV commercials but what on Earth are Tim Blake Nelson and David Arquette doing here? Are they close friends of the director or were they blackmailed into it? Although the acting is wooden, the script stilted, the plot bizzare and the aforementioned negative production values this movie has a strange attraction. I can well see it becoming a cult classic especially among those keen on mind expanding fungus.

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.