Director: Rich Ragsdale
Writer: Kevin O’Sullivan, Jason Chase Tyrrell (Screenplay) Rich Ragsdale, Kevin Ragsdale (Story)
Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, James Landry Hebert, Mark Boone Junior, Russell Geoffrey Banks, Rich Lee Gray, Elana Krausz
Plot: A young couple go on an adventurous vacation to Thailand only to find themselves haunted by a malevolent spirit after naively disrespecting a Ghost House.
Tagline – She Will Never Let You Go
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Terrifying Horror
Story: Ghost House starts as our young American couple Julie (Taylor-Compton) and Jim (Hebert) arrive in Bangkok, Thailand for a romantic holiday with Jim planning to propose to her. With the holiday going well the newly engaged couple meet to British men Robert (Banks) and Bill (Gray) who enjoy a night partying before taking the couple to a remote Ghost House Graveyard to perform a ritual.
This ritual leaves Julie haunted by a malevolent spirit that haunts her dreams, her days and her nightmares, leaving Jim to figure out how to save her before her time is up and the local curse makes her the latest victim.
Thoughts on Ghost House
Characters – Julie is one half of the couple, she loves learning about new cultures and uses her camera to capture every moment possible, this does make her an easier victim to become cursed as she must battle the spirits to stay alive. Jim is the other half of the couple, he has planned to propose on this holiday and it all goes well for him. When the partying gets out of control he must show how committed he is to Julie to find a way to lift the curse that has been placed on her. Reno is the connection to the darker arts of the spirits, he offers to help, but for a price, this character here shows us what an outside can achieve when he gets to know the area.
Performances – Scout Taylor-Compton is most notably known for her work on the Halloween reboot, so she is no stranger to horror, she does a good job with her terrified reaction. James Landry Hebert is good to with the determination his character needs coming through strongly. The rest of the cast do work well with the film even if you will struggle to enjoy watching the English characters.
Story – The story here plays into Thai culture, which is something horror movies love to do, playing into any culture outside the normal for the man characters. They get cursed and must lift it before becoming the latest victims, this all works well through the film and can’t be faulted one bit. The whole curse will bring us reminders to most Asian ghost/spirit movies because it is easier to get the scares on the audience. Making Jim much more involved is a slight spin on what we have seen before because usually it is the female character doing all the investigating side of the film. This story will tick the boxes for one of my favorite sub-genres of horror and it should keep the horror fans entertained throughout.
Horror – The horror we get in the film does use the jump scares, something we have seen before and something that we know when scares are coming, but not always what they will be.
Settings – Thailand makes for a wonderful setting because it is filled with spiritual culture which outsides always claim to understand and fail too often, the location helps the story.
Special Effects – When it comes to effects we do have a mixed bag, one of my favorite sayings, we get good ghost effects for the spirit which both look terrifying and creepy, but also are similar to what we have seen before.
Scene of the Movie – Looking at the photos.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The English characters didn’t have the strongest acting to support them.
Final Thoughts – This is a good ghost horror movie, it has jump scares where needed, it plays into a countries culture and most importantly keeps the pace going on the scares.
Overall: Horror Fans Watch
Rating
