User reviews

The opening set-up isn't bad. An Old West town in 1866 is invaded by some ruthless gunslingers, who just happen to be cultists. An out gunned sheriff, and a minister stand in their way, winding up with bullet holes in their chests along with everybody else in town. The dying Christian minister, who (ready?) practices Wickan beliefs (hey, I didn't write this thing) leaves a message in blood on a window. Finally, the cultists shoot themselves.

Then the film disintegrates. Modern day: noisy teens arguing. On a bus. You'll know exactly the order of deaths from how stupid they each act in this scene. The ghosts make the bus and everybody's cell phones stop working. How come ghosts from the 19th Century always seem to understand modern technology? Soon, the old smooching couple in a hayloft getting attacked routine becomes the first cliché. There's a lot of jabbering about pentagrams, Friday 13th, and other stuff, but not much point to why it's all happening. The only reasons I could see for the ghosts' wanting to blast everybody would be either: 1) the teens were transparent one dimensional characters that were simply annoying, and/or 2) most of the cast sorely needed acting lessons. Whatever their reason was, these ghosts kill creatively; one guy even meets his end spitting up motor oil.

There's enough weirdness in this to make it an OK watch. But don't expect a whole lot from it.

After their bus mysteriously gets lost, a bunch of college kids find themselves trapped in a Wild West Ghost Town inhabited by evil spirits.

Not awful by any means, as these budgeted TV productions go, it has some inventive death scenes (death by gasoline vomit a personal favourite here), Billy Drago as a venomous Cowboy spirit and some canted angles used for good atmospheric impact. Hell! The blending of maths stars and jocks, which while not original, makes for an interesting group dynamic and lets the writer (Andy Briggs) set up a decent finale as the remaining youngsters try to work out a way out of hell by using brain and brawn.

Unfortunately director Todor Chapkanov seems to think that jitterycam is the way to go at every given opportunity, something which really hinders the atmosphere trying to get out. Then there is the MTV "R" US musical score/soundtrack that booms out inappropriately like proof was needed that noise does indeed annoy. While the town itself looks like some left over mock up from an American Adventure Theme Park.

Filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, it ultimately comes down to a bunch of pretty looking college kids (one of whom looks like Vin Diesel) getting killed amid angst, bullying and sexual yearnings. But like the characters in the story, the film seems stuck in a filmic purgatory, not really sure if it wants to slash, spook or yeehaw its way into our conscious. But as Syfy Channel time wasters go it just about passes muster. 4/10

Before being commissioned for producing films for Syfy, UFO Entertainment were perhaps the preceding "mockbuster" company to The Asylum, although their movies actually weren't that obviously inspired by current films. Some people would call "Dragon Storm" UFO's analogue to "Reign of Fire". They're sadly mistaken.

"Ghost Town" would be the aforementioned analogue; it doesn't outwardly resemble "Reign of Fire" but there is one connection; it's more boring than anyone could possibly expect.

A debate team and hockey team are heading towards home when they somehow find themselves under attack from ghost cowboys. Unfortunately nobody remembered to bring any personnality on their trip and nothing else provides any reason for audiences to be interested.

I happened to catch a portion of this movie on the Sy-Fy channel about a year ago and, since it looked pretty good at the time, I decided to procure a copy recently. Having now seen this movie in its entirety I can honestly say that it wasn't too bad. Essentially, "Reb Halland" (Billy Drago) is the leader of an outlaw gang back in the days of the old west who has made a deal with the Devil for immortality. "Preacher McCready" (Gil Gerard) is a mystic who comes to the town of Hope Springs to protect it from Reb Halland's gang by erecting 5 Wiccan totems in various places. His plan works to perfection until a man comes along and pulls one out of the ground. When that happens, all hell breaks loose as Reb's gang kills everyone in town-on a Friday the 13th no less. They then commit suicide and wait for an opportunity to kill again. Fast forward to the present when a bus carrying students from Carmel College find themselves in this same town-and it just happens to be on a Friday the 13th. Now rather than reveal any more of the film and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that for a made-for-television movie it had decent special effects and enough suspense to keep things somewhat interesting for the most part. Likewise, it didn't hurt to have two attractive actresses in Jessica Rose (as "Jenna") and Annabelle Wallis ("Serena"). Again, while it certainly wasn't the best horror movie ever made, I found it to be enjoyable enough and I rate it as about average.

Busload of annoyingly stereotypical teens, stranded in a ghost town inhabited by murderous outlaw poltergeists, attempt to survive their stay without "freaking out" while also solving the mystery behind their spooky surroundings. Jittery, witless low-budget thriller, barren of substantial ideas or honest scares. TV-buffs should enjoy seeing Gil Gerard again (playing the preacher), but the movie doesn't have an ounce of originality. The poor bus driver throws up motor oil in the most ludicrously-derived supernatural sequence (actually a quasi-steal from "Poltergeist II"), while the long-in-the-tooth students banter back and forth so vacuously that one is apt to sleep through "Ghost Town" without so much as a shudder. NO STARS from ****

Ghost Town did have a good idea to start with. With the opening sequence, which sets the tone very well, you'd think it would be a decent movie at least. Unfortunately, it very quickly descends into amateurish tedium. I have seen worse-looking movies, but the crude editing, often dull lighting and the rather slapdash(though I have seen far worse) effects does make it a film where the low-budget really does show. Even the make-up has a real lack of originality. The music is too obvious, a large part of why the scares and such weren't done so well, and nothing really stuck out as memorable. The dialogue is terrible, it all feels hackneyed and it gives a very unnatural flow. The story is one that tries to be a slasher movie, a western and a ghost movie. It doesn't do either of those well at all. Much of it is worthless filler. With slasher scenes, you'd expect scares that make you bite your nails and a feeling of dread. With these scenes, it has gore but little else. I like westerns just as much as the next person, but there is nothing exciting or adventurous on display here. Likewise with the ghost aspects. The ghosts had real potential but are not menacing and not used well. It all reads of them giving nothing to do that is worthwhile other than predictable things, and as a result the spooky atmosphere is low on the radar. Even episodes of Scooby Doo was scarier than this entire movie. And when are SyFy ever are going to do their research, the worst was in regard to Wicca, which didn't exist until the 20th century which is the opposite of what Ghost Town implies. I hated the characters just as much. Whether they are stereotypical or not doesn't actually doesn't bother me, a large amount of movies has one stereotype at least. But it is an entirely different matter when the high school kids are so annoying that you'd finish them off given the choice and no thought whatsoever is given to the villains, with only the character Reb Halland given anything that is of note. The acting is atrocious, the kids can't act their way out of a paper bag, most of them are wooden, with one even slipping into what sounds like a New Zealand accent that is somewhat disconcerting, and none of them show any genuine sense of fear or tension giving their predicament. Billy Drago looks intimidating but has little to do other than sneering reasonably effectively. All in all, Ghost Town had an opening sequence that was decent but any potential was wasted to the point that you actually question what was the point? 2/10 Bethany Cox

Well there is 85mins of my life that I will never get back. This really is the worst film I have ever seen (and I've seen Dragon Wars). Don't know why films like this get made. One of the "ghosts" from 1866 uses a box of safety matches to do some dirty work - very safety conscious them 1866 cowboys. Billy Drago is lookin sad and old these days and his scary persona has all but vanished in this one with the scary having to come from some (not so) special effects. All the kids are deeply annoying without a touch of acting ability between them and the set seems to be made from old food boxes - Avoid wasting a night of your life on this one NO STARS

Well, this isn't a movie I would go and choose to rent and take home or purchase .... so kind of glad it was on free to air TV! The acting was ... well, they did the best they could with the script they had I guess! lol... Sorry to the writer - it could have been a lot better than it was - however the basic outline wasn't bad. The special effects (for the most part) and camera work made it watchable - but but is not a movie I would go 'oh yes I want to watch that again).... I am guessing that the cast and crew enjoyed the experience and the editing was well done - everything was pretty smoothly put together. It was what I would have expected of a B grade semi-horror/thriller movie... good effort guys... despite my comments - it was a reasonable way to pass a couple of hours (by the time free to air TV sticks in the adverts!).... :D

Stranded after a debate match, a team of students find the ghost town they're stuck in is home to a gang of devil-worshiping cowboys and must find a way to get out alive.

There's a lot to like with this one. One of the better elements in this one is the rather exciting and frenetic action scenes in this one, which are spread throughout this one so it really gets rather fun and exciting. The enhanced pace of this one is due to the fact that the attacks in here are constant and spread throughout so there's plenty in here to keep this interesting. Whether it's brief attacks like the bus driver or the flashbacks to the other people to have been stuck in the town throughout its' history, or the extended attack scenes such as the saloon trap or the barnyard encounter, there's more than enough action within this one that keeps it buzzing along nicely. Each of this actually works quite well in keeping this going by having specific reasons to work, as the shorter scenes are a quick, suspenseful bit leading into the shock jump scene while the longer scenes get the benefit of having the fantastic action scenes get played out really nicely. That makes for healthy quantities of both variety and quantity to make this quite exciting and thrilling, which also plays into the other factors here of being a rather impressive body count with all the confrontations here as well as getting in a lot of good points with the Satanic imagery present that accounts for both the creepy back-story of the ghosts as well as their specific actions later on that make the finale so much fun. These manage to overwhelm the few flaws in this one, which is mainly the fact that the ghosts themselves aren't on-screen all that much. They tend to stay off-screen for most of the first half and have only sporadic screen time until the finale, including being curiously absent while the group engages in the one activity that can finally end matters once and for all, a scene that should contain their presence in the least. Along with the weak CGI in the blood and gore, it's the one flaw in this one.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

What starts out with a modicum of promise (outlaw gang runs afoul of a Wiccan-practicing preacher in the Old West) ends up being just another modern-day teens being killed one by one by evil spirits. And these are some mighty powerful ghosts, as they derail a bus and deactivate everyone's cell phones. The deaths are reasonably creative, but it is just cookie cutter, by the numbers slaughter. There's some mumbo jumbo about sacred totems, but it all comes to nothing in the end. Worst of all, the cowboy ghosts are about as scary as a Spongebob Squarepants cartoon -- which, come to think of it, is a whole lot scarier!n I had the misfortune of watching this on the same day that "The Others" was playing on a different channel. Now, there are some truly scary ghosts!

A bus load of college students & staff end up in an Old West ghost town inhabited by the wicked specters of outlaws. Will anyone survive?

Released to TV in 2009, "Ghost Town" is part Old West Western and part modern horror, mostly the latter. It's similar to 1999's "Purgatory" in that they're both TV Westerns with supernatural elements, except this one is decidedly horror-oriented. The "hip" youths hanging out in an abandoned Western town is reminiscent of the biker flick "Angels Hard as They Come" (1971). The difference here being that this group is trapped and fending off wicked apparitions.

I liked how the group dwindles down to little more than a handful and they have to rise to the challenge of surviving or dying. Joey Ansah stands out as Bonesera, aka "Bone," a bully football player who may or may not redeem himself. It's also nice to see Gil Gerard ("Buck Rogers") again in a peripheral role.

As for the female cast, the movie scores pretty well: Israeli Shelly Varod (Katie) looks like she has a smidgen of Far East Asian in her. She's cute, but I prefer Annabelle Wallis (Serena), Jessica Rose (Chloe) and even the outlaw babe (Cvetelina Teneva), looks-wise anyway.

As long as you can handle the limitations of low-budget productions, like the other two flicks noted above, I give this a marginal recommendation.

The film runs 1 hour, 25 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson, Arizona.

GRADE: C+/B-

During a field trip, a group of young students' bus gets lost and they end up stopping in an old abandoned city. But before they can find the right way, strange events haunt them, since the city holds macabre secrets from the past. There, they will have to fight against mysterious forces that may prevent them from leaving the place alive.

A silly horror film, with weak effects (the shaky camera, lol), everything very cliché, nothing very cool, predictable script, it would be more interesting if the film itself didn't take itself so seriously, few funny scenes (none), the teenagers are boring and caricatured (and they always figure out how to exterminate ghosts), like we all have been, luckily it's not very long, a good boring pastime for boring days, better than a silly slapstick comedy...

another good billy drago film everyone here seems like idiots, they've never seen a low budget horror movie flick and are not custom ed to how they are made...

guys go back and watch your little twilight films, and let us enjoy B-movie horrors...

i don't know what you guys were expecting, but you've clearly out your league.

effects are good, and i love the town at night, it looks really spooky. drago is back playing a familiar cowboy role, he always looks good as one... he was great in 7 mummies, copperhead, tremors 4, and now this...

the best part of the film for me, is when all the ghosts show up at the same time on horseback, riding towards the cast, loved the way it was all shot...

Sy Fy Telefilm cheap that its function is to entertain the viewer from beginning to end, talking about it are those movies that only crash speaks like a youth group to go to a desolate place, or rather that of a country town where they have occurred several other battles in decades, plus it shows the overall budget. The performances are passable but I call more attention but the special effects are great. Sy Fy hopefully can do more with these types of movies.

Billy Drago continues to maintain its performance in all types of movies with that damned villain. Also the rest of the units are mostly teenagers say I've never seen in other films, but it begins.

The end seemed rather bland shows nothing but I was expecting something more.