I Am a Ghost

I am not really much of a film buff and I cannot remember commenting on a film in my life, but i do enjoy reading and listening to audio-book ghost stories instead of watching films, but this is a little gem. The great thing about this 'low budget' film is that it is not padded out with over the top effects, which can be a turn off when over done. The film has a decent story backed up by a fine and believable acting performance from Anna Ishida, i really felt for her character.

I will be on the lookout for more low budget films from now on and hope that i can find a few more quality films like this. Low budget does not mean low quality.

8/10 and well done to those involved in making this little gem.

If you're intending to watch this movie, just go ahead and fast forward through the first 30 of the 76 minutes. I guess the repetition is supposed to build suspense, but it just annoyed me.

The character, Emily is very likable. She's perfect for the role in every way except that her nationality doesn't fit the setting and is very different than the photographs of her family. There wasn't enough backstory for me to really build a connection with Emily before the end of the movie.

I expected more interaction with the living and more suspense, but all I got was a good 10- 15 minutes of cheaply implied fear and a open ending. FYI "The Ring" came out in 2002 and this movie was made in 2012.

Being a psychology major, I really wanted to like this movie. I do love the concept, but so much more could've been done to make this a good movie, even with no budget.

I Am a Ghost (2012) is a movie I watched for free off Amazon Prime last week. The storyline focuses on a woman, Emily, who is a ghost that gets randomly contacted by a clairvoyant who is trying to release her as a spirit within a house. To convince Emily she is indeed a ghost and walk her through how to leave the house the clairvoyant will need to walk Emily through her death, her life that led to her death and help her overcome her inner demon(s). This movie is directed by H. P. Mendoza (Rodents of Unusual Size) and stars Anna Ishida (Bitter Melon). The storyline for this picture is actually pretty interesting and a unique take on the poltergeist genre. The movie dragged during some parts in the middle but I really enjoyed the ending and how the pieces/parts came together. I strongly recommend watching this if you're looking for something different. I'd give it a 7/10.

While the vast majority of Hollywood movies are made on a budget of millions, an amount of money I can't even fathom seeing over the course of my life, the budget for I Am a Ghost couldn't even afford you a decent used car. While this doesn't excuse a boring picture, it seems amiss to not at least consider when judging the success of the film. So it does occasionally look cheap, especially in the effects of the eventual "monster" and for some reason the obvious wig that near solo actress Anna Ishida wears throughout. It also greatly overplays it's hand at repeating various scenes. While I understand this is a plot device used to show the redundancy of the ghost's rituals, one can't help but wonder if the filmmakers leaned into this to pad out an already lean run-time to feature film length.

Otherwise, the movie does succeed beyond it's limitations. There's a clever premise at the core, flipping a haunted house movie to the ghost's perspective, which I can't say I've seen explored much before. Anna Ishida does a bang up job expressing the confusion of the situation. There's a pleasant, Lynchian abstraction that floats around the movie, and even the aforementioned repetitive editing does effectively convey how the fabric of reality has broken down. This is all the more impressive when you realize what they were working with and makes it easy to forgive many of the film's shortcomings.

If you appreciate a movie that pulls you in, all the while requiring you to think; at the same time eliciting strong feelings in you that you do not expect and might rather not feel, then this is a movie for you. Simply presented, economically fashioned, and searingly executed it is soul-freezing in its directness; subtle in the manner of a systemic disease that presents as a seemingly innocent bump while complications reveal themselves only as you begin to pay closer and closer attention. This is sophisticated psychospiritual horror. It had (has?) me wondering if I was (am?) a Ghost. It is not a quickly developing story, but the pace befits the subject and the shifting rhythm carries you along until patience definitely pays off. I would suggest a mild warning for those who have issues of a traumatic nature. This movie may be an unsuspected trigger (that is cocked and ready...and loaded).