‘Leave it alone’
Ghost House is a 2017 American horror film directed by Rich Ragsdale (The Curse of El Charro) from a screenplay written by Kevin O’Sullivan and Jason Chase Tyrrell, based on a story by Rich and Kevin Ragsdale. The movie stars Scout Taylor-Compton, James Landry Hébert, Mark Boone Junior and Russell Geoffrey Banks.
Plot:
A young couple, Jim and Julie, are vacationing in Thailand where Julie falls in love with photographing small shrines called ghost houses that are believed to give spirits shelter and comfort.
A couple of British travellers take them into the countryside with the promise of showing Jim and Julie a ghost house graveyard where many of the shrines are discarded.
After leaving the graveyard with a souvenir, Julie is increasingly plagued by visits from a malevolent spirit that threatens both her sanity and her life. After Julie is literally frozen in a state of terror, Jim must find a way to lift the curse before he loses Julie to the ghost world forever…
Release:
In North America, Ghost House was released on DVD on September 19, 2017, by Lions Gate. In August 2018 the film was made available for streaming on Netflix.
Buy DVD: Amazon.com
Reviews:
” …while Ghost House certainly has its fair share of stumbles, mainly in the way of editing inconsistencies, oddly misplaced musical pieces, and Jim, it still manages to be a highly energetic, gorgeously shot ghost story. The strength of the film, especially in the back half, are its wildly chilling visuals.” 13th Floor
“Pyrotechnician Anthony Delzio had his hands full with this project. Something is always going up in flames, within Ghost House. Also, director Rich Ragsdale pulls double duty as composer. The music is often tense or sombre, depending on the tone of the film. There is a bit of an East meets West mythology here…” 28 Days Later Analysis
“Ghost House has some good visuals, especially in the last ten minutes, which spontaneously go for broke. The big finale delivers the kind of throw-caution-to-the-wind, over-the-top fun the rest of the picture is too sluggish to muster up. It’s all too little, too late, however. The other 89 minutes of Ghost House are so routine and substance-free that no last-minute miracle can make a difference.” The Aisle Seat
” …this feature-length insult to Thai culture devolves into a series of repetitive scenes in which Scout Taylor-Compton is either a) unconscious, b) wandering around whimpering with a torch, c) strapped to a gurney or d) in a general state of near-hysteria.” Horror Screams Video Vault
“This isn’t homogenized filmmaking; you get the location, you see the people who live there too. Ghost House makes no attempts at redefining its Tartan Asia Extreme roots, but the soil in which it’s planted is rich with talent, a beautiful score, stunning cinematography and an engaging story. The result is an overall experience ripe with satisfying supernatural low-hanging fruit.” iHorror
“Strip away the setting and the ghost, and Ghost House is revealed as little more than a humourless, fun-free rehash of Drag Me to Hell. Some elements work well, but the rest is let down by predictable storytelling and truly awful acting. Stick with the far superior trailer; the main event is a limp, un-spirited slog.” Nerdly
“Maybe not the reinvention of the genre, Ghost House is still a charming piece of horror that makes perfect use of its Thai settings and gives its horror a definite Thai paint. But the film also works due to very decent pacing, coupled with a nice combination of atmosphere, suspense, and jump scares, as well as some very creepy visuals.” Search My Trash
“This is about having a perfunctory horror experience, one that is designed entirely to capitalize on a very successful formula with nary a single deviation from the recipe and for many, that will be all that is required. Ragsdale seems to understand this and as such, puts a pretty palpable effort into generating the most from the material.” That Moment In
“ …Ghost House burns out midway through the movie and is somewhat unsuccessful with regaining its pace by the final confrontation […] Being that this is a horror film, you need more than extremely talented actors, a great concept not explored in the genre yet, and fantastic production values.” Horror Society
Cast and characters:
Scout Taylor-Compton … Julie
James Landry Hébert … Jim
Mark Boone Junior … Reno
Russell Geoffrey Banks … Robert
Rich Lee Gray … Billy (as Richard Gray)
Elana Krausz … Gwen
Kevin Ragsdale … Cal
Wen-Chu Yang … Watabe (as Wenchu Yang)
Michael S. New … Gogo
Katrina Grey … Robert’s Girlfriend (as Kat Gray)
Weenat Chaioamphonchit … Blind Woman
Thawatchai Janthawan … Beggar #1
Surasit Boonsak … Beggar #2 (as Mr Surasit Boonsak)
Narinat Saenphukhiago … Beggar #3 (as Mrs Narinat Saenphukhiago)
Pattaravadee Poonvichit … Hotel Clerk
Filming locations:
Bangkok, Thailand
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