Or an episode of "Night Gallery," with some swearing. Yes, "Ghosts of Edendale" plays like an extended episode of Rod Serling's last TV series, mixed with a bit of "The Shining," Clive Barker's "Coldwater Canyon," and David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive." Call it "omlette Du homage," I guess.
Actually, this is a fairly standard "Hollywood" story tarted up as a horror flick. It's not the ghosts that are scary (Wha? The head ghoul is Tim Mix?), but the fear of not being one--that is, of being excluded from the "right" parties and the "right" neighborhood. And exclusion is horror in Hollywood.
This low-budget flick manages to achieve a shock or two, but shooting on videotape hurts. It's tough to create the foreboding atmosphere a good horror movie needs on videotape without resorting to photographic effects that make it look like a "Dr. Who" episode from the 1970s. The pace is set a bit too slow--too many shots of people giving meaningful looks at things or people--and too much reliance on ghost-story clichés (for example, faces appearing in woodwork and creepy, whispering children's voices).
Actually, this is a fairly standard "Hollywood" story tarted up as a horror flick. It's not the ghosts that are scary (Wha? The head ghoul is Tim Mix?), but the fear of not being one--that is, of being excluded from the "right" parties and the "right" neighborhood. And exclusion is horror in Hollywood.
This low-budget flick manages to achieve a shock or two, but shooting on videotape hurts. It's tough to create the foreboding atmosphere a good horror movie needs on videotape without resorting to photographic effects that make it look like a "Dr. Who" episode from the 1970s. The pace is set a bit too slow--too many shots of people giving meaningful looks at things or people--and too much reliance on ghost-story clichés (for example, faces appearing in woodwork and creepy, whispering children's voices).