Phasma Ex Machina

I honestly don't have to much to say.

This is reaaaally terrible. I first rented it because it looked interesting and some of the best movies I have ever seen that isn't dumb-looking was unknown to me. So I picked it up and then later I checked IMDb and noticed the bad ratings but I had optimism. I watched it....yeah.

The acting is either really dull or really dumb. The characters aren't interesting. The story could work out if they made it well...WORK OUT. It seriously is not worth watching. Forget this movie. Walk away from it or you'll regret it. ....Trust me.

1/10

Have you ever stood completely still in your house and felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, or felt a sudden burst of chilled air in an otherwise warm room? Maybe what you are feeling isn't just a random altering of sensations, but rather a supernatural occurrence correlating to electronic emissions in power lines in and around your house.

Now, what would happen if say, you were an expert electrician whose knowledge of all things electrical is equaled only by your passion to resurrect your recently deceased parents by means of something resembling a large home stereo? You don't need a degree in electrical engineering to know that going against nature or bringing back something – especially through the use of science – you're not supposed to will and can only end badly. Lest we forget the lessons learned in Jurassic Park? Speaking of Spielberg's dinosaurs, it's no spoiler to say that director Matt Osterman's Phasma Ex-Machina doesn't have a T-Rex, a high speed chase, or even Jeff Goldblum for that matter. But what this film does have is an original ghost story script with just enough menacing moments to leave you with an eerie creeped out feeling when all is said and done. It also has a refreshing and more true-to-life (even in the supernatural realm in which it lives) ending seldom seen in bigger budgeted more conventionalized Hollywood type films. It would be interesting to see what this young filmmaker could do if given a bigger budget. I for one am looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer.

Have you ever lost someone who was very close to you? Do you feel in any way guilty about / responsible for it? What if you could somehow bring them back?

Your answers to these questions will affect the way in which you view this film.

GHOST FROM THE MACHINE (aka: PHASMA EX MACHINA) uses a combination of science fiction and the supernatural to tell a tale of death, extreme remorse, and the unfortunate result.

As with its dark cousin THE MONKEY'S PAW, we're shown that some things are best left alone, and that we'd better be damned careful what we wish for.

A well-made, low-budget horror fable...

The first quarter of the film shows great promise. But quickly the film turns into a complete slop fest of awkward (can't look at the screen) acting, amateur screen writing (the film has no solid path/direction), and strange musical transitions.

The good:

• The Idea - Some of the acting - Cinematography

The Bad: - Everything else.

The above reviews are completely misleading. There are so many obscure scenes in this film that take away from the solid premise. This could have been an AMAZING low budget horror film. A rewrite of the script, some better onset acting coaches, and you might just have yourself a killer of a film.

Watch this: With a bottle of wine and some friends. Know what you are getting into, and you'll have a good time.

C+

For a low budget, independent movie from an inexperienced director/writer, I thought this was actually pretty enjoyable. The plot is a bit of a rehash of the old mad scientist trope, but this time the mad scientist is a young adult who can't let go of his dead parents. Feeling guilty and responsible for their deaths, he embarks on a single-minded quest to contact them, using some pseudo-scientific theory involving electromagnetic fields. I guess they figured that audiences might get confused about EMF, so they dedicated several expository scenes on the science behind the kid's invention. Unfortunately, this does slow down the pacing a bit, but, unlike Primer, from which this movie seems to draw some influence, they managed to keep the technobabble to minimum. Like Primer, the invention is basically a MacGuffin, a black box that serves to advance the plot and draw the focus of obsessive behavior. Unlike Primer, the themes aren't as explicit, nor is it quite as compelling, though I fail to see why the rating is quite so low as it is (hovering around a 4, at the time of my writing). I'd say that it's pretty decent and probably worth a view for fans of supernatural thrillers. There's no gore, profanity, or nudity that I can remember, though there's a little violence and atmospheric tension. That makes me wonder if maybe it was aimed at younger audiences, especially seeing as how the leads are all fairly young. Still, I think it works fine for older audiences, as long as they're not expecting it to be a gory horror movie.