Hello, and welcome back to Netflix Dumpster Dive. There almost wasn’t a new review this month, as I’ve been hard at work on the third installment of my Reyairan Spirits series (catalogued here if you’re interested) and some other side projects, and haven’t been watching too many movies in my spare time. Still, I wanted to keep true to my word that I’d be consistent this summer, so we’re back, and it honestly does feel good to let my focus drift for a bit.

I hadn’t originally planned on the movie I’m reviewing today. One of the movies I watched this month was Cargo, starring Martin Freeman. However, that movie has gotten quite a bit of buzz lately, being a Netflix Original with a big name attached, and I wasn’t quite ready for another zombie movie in my review repertoire, so I opted to pick something else. I’m still riding some paranormal excitement after Veronica, and wanted to try another ghost-centric film. That film was almost The Vault, since I hadn’t heard much on it, but since James Franco was in a lead role, I decided it was a little too mainstream for this series’s purposes.

That led me to Ghost House. As I was scrolling through the “Supernatural Horror” bar Netflix so graciously has plastered to my homepage for the foreseeable future, the images in Ghost House’s preview roll caught my attention immediately. It looked creepy, gruesome, and, most of all, atmospheric. That’s what I feel I’ve been missing out on a lot with some of these films. Pure atmosphere. Atmosphere is the biggest reason I even had Cargo considered for this review in the first place. Naturally, I had to give Ghost House a watch. My expectations were high.

This movie does several things others of its ilk do often. First, at the beginning of the movie, it shows you a scene of the ghost wreaking havoc, a scene that I almost mistook for a spoiler when I met the main characters. What these scene managed to do, in spite of how often ones like it are used, is show me that yes, I was in for good atmosphere. The way the ghost looks, and attacks its prey, are both insanely gross and fascinating, and I was on the edge of my seat.

Another thing this movie does that many others of its kind do, is count out the “Days” that a person has been haunted/possessed. I didn’t particularly need that. There is a significance to the passage of time, but it isn’t established at the beginning of the movie, so there’s no reason for the counter, really.

And finally, this movie is ridden with jump scares. Is that a terrible thing? Eh. I’ve been critical of them before, and I want to be now, but I feel more complacent since they’re par for the course in a movie like this. The movie does a lot more to make me uncomfortable in the visual department, so I think at least some of the jump scares are earned and passable.

Did this movie deliver on the atmosphere past the introduction? Honestly, after the real meat of the movie (the possession and the means by which it had to be cured) began, things were hit and miss. The ghost’s form continued to be unsettling from beginning to end, and the instances where she showed herself to her victim were gripping every time. That being said, I wasn’t getting the same experience much from the outside world. The hero of the movie does his thing, but he doesn’t give me much to work with. It’s a tricky place, though, because I feel like too much more of the ghost could ruin the vibes it gives when it shows up.

The story issues Ghost House has are not just limited to the hero, though. I like aspects of the entire film. I think the twist regarding the ghost’s possession is interesting. The title of the film, which on the surface seems to be a juvenile haunted house reference, has more meaning when put in the context of Thailand being the setting. The whole Thai vibe is really what ties the atmosphere in a bow. Nonetheless, the actual plot of the movie is decent at best. It isn’t bad, but it really isn’t anything new. Girl gets possessed by a Japanese ghost, slowly sinking further into insanity, while her boyfriend finds out he can’t cure her with modern medicine and seeks more magical methods. At the end of the movie, we find that someone else had discovered the thing that caused the possession in the first place. The characters in the movie are interesting enough to make the plot more interesting, but it still is the usual possession movie progression.

Outside the visuals, one aspect of the movie that I can 100% say I loved was the sound design. Normally when I gear up to watch these movies, it’s on a TV, to get a more “on the couch with a group of friends” feel. This time, I used headphones, and let me say, the audio in Ghost House is truly the most haunting part of it. Removed from the jump scares, which are loud and startling as one would expect, the noises the ghost makes and the music and ambience make the entire film. Especially the monk chanting in an early scene. That put me on edge, and throat signing is normally relaxing to me.

I will say that I enjoyed this movie more than it may seem by my criticisms. While my gripes are valid and present, I still found more enjoyment out of this than with most mainstream demon flicks. You won’t be finding anything out there or wholly unique in Ghost House, but if you’re looking for a familiar story that is furnished in a truly unnerving aesthetic, this movie is absolutely worth a watch.

Overall Personal Rating: 6.5/10

 

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© 2018 Vincent C. Russo. All Rights Reserved. This post is intended for review and constitutes fair use. This film and any images used belong to their respective owners.