River of Ghosts

Worst movie ever! YOU are warned - this is it!! I did wonder about the underwater AI dragon - is that the professor? Did the eyes of the dragon come through the Professor's eyes?

BTW - why did everyone have such bizarre hairdos? What's with the hypnotherapist working with the police? What about HIPA? What about hiring actual actors or at least acting students? The producer, the director & casting director (as well as the writer) all of whom are actually the same!! Clearly a BIG BAD ego trip. In a court of law Mr. East (real name?)is charged with making the worst movie EVER - punishment would be he has to watch this film disaster repeatedly for a week. Better yet, bring this film to Cannes, everyone could have a laugh riot.

I'm surprised this film generates so much hate from people who have never write/direct any film lol. I went in thinking this is a Horror but turns out better than what I've expected. It actually is about a hypnotherapist discovers townsfolk's secret through hypnosis session, honest to the film's synopsis. Conner Floyd is an actor from Young and Restless TV series. If the dragon is generated by AI, the maker is one of the earliest in the industry who has done that! The story line is unconventional yet could all be tied into a same theme, the "ghosts" they created in their mind to mask the truth out of fear, guilt and other reasons. Haters, make yourself a movie, lol.

This movie, and I use the term loosely, is the result of someone who neither can write nor direct but thought they could do both.

It is another nail in the coffin that is Hollywood.

Where to begin; story ands writing could have been done better had our "I can do everything" writer used ChatGPT instead. It is a terrible script and a sad story if you can stomach it.

Directing, ok... What directing? Are you for real man, you wrote lines and scenes that you then thought you would direct and all you did was push this wreck of a film over Niagara falls and onto the rocks. Its painful to watch man.

Acting, no comment, waste of words.

There is a reason why writers should only write, actors should only act and directors should only direct. Even Megapolis with its 125 Million dollar budget bombed because our director thought he could write and then directed what he thought was a good story and script.

Cannot be done. Stick to one thing and do it well.

River of Ghosts has a misleading title that will certainly disappoint horror fans, because as you watch the film, you will find that it's not a horror but something psychological and deeper. Jules East's quirky way of telling the story brings in one by one of unexpected elements, a mythical creature that comes out of the river, a tornado in the house and a ghost? Just to lead us through an otherwise plain plot- a murder by the river out of an affair. Conner Floyd's acting leaves much room to bring out the melancholy and contemplative hypnosis doctor at first, however, by taking matters into his own hands, surprisingly he helps to unearth and solve the case. The idea of hypnosis to bring Brian back to what has happened by the river weaves well with the method of showing a reverse flow of the river back to where the incident happened that day by the riverbank. A memory that is too painful to bear for Brian, hence it keeps haunting him due to his attempt to suppress it. By hypnosis, going back against the flowing river, Dr. Halton forces Brian to remember what happened that day, unfortunately that didn't work, instead, Dr. Halton found the truth through the hypnosis of another guy in town, Larry, a city auditor, who had an affair behind his wife's back. River of Ghosts is a highly unexpected film, as it will go against your expectation and anticipation. If you expect horror, expect a let down. If you think there's real ghosts by the river, think twice. I'm pretty sure Jules meant for the "ghosts" to be the shadow aspects in the town folks' psyche, a web of five persons' drama which caused a death by the river.

River of Ghosts is a trick to all horror fans and other curious movie watchers who expect supernatural horror. There are many things that "seemed" supernatural, but Jules wraps it and calls it a trick of the mind. There is a murder involved in the film, however still, it doesn't go like a typical murder mystery. If you watch the movie till the end like I do, you will find how hard Jules tries, bringing in murder, VFX dragon, hauntings and even a tornado in the house, to tell a story about the power of the mind and imagination, how one's mind can create all the illusions to cover up the truth. I think perhaps, the "ghosts", plural, are meant to portray all these illusions. There are many questions unanswered, which could be for reflective purposes. Conversations between Dr. Halton and Trex seem painfully lengthy and slow, at the end, makes me wonder if Trex ever existed? Was he a fragment of Dr. Halton's imagination or the river creature itself that can shapeshift into a human being? Jules made Brian seem heroic although he killed the killer who killed his wife. After watching the movie, I can conclude that the "ghosts" in River of Ghosts maybe are not real ghosts, the ghost wife Jane, might very well be Brian's imagination out of guilt as well as Professor Trex- one of the ghosts by the river, who was also an imagined mentor of Dr. Halton's. I'm dissatisfied by how Jules takes female roles without much respect in today's feminist climate. Jane who had an affair was accusing his husband for not coming for her rescue and Kathy who blames the Dr. For the death of his cheating husband? Perhaps love and forgiveness triumphs all. The movie ends with Dr. Halton being forced to let go of his imagined mentor after solving the case. Overall there are still many questions unanswered, such as, how could Dr. Halton and his client Brian having the same illusion in the haunted cabin house? Why would Larry go to Dr. Halton, a hypnosis, knowing very well what he had done? Over confident? Overall, I'd like to conclude that River of Ghosts is a play between reality and imagination and facing the "ghosts" we all have within us.