I got to watch "The Ghostmaker" for the second time now, and must admit that I could only vaguely remember fragments from the movie from the first time around.
But I have to say that the movie just wasn't much better actually the second time around. Sure, it has some good aspects here and there, I will get to those in a bit, but in overall then this just was a less than mediocre foray into the horror / thriller genre.
"The Ghostmaker" is about a some friends who stumble upon an ancient coffin from the 15th century, which turns out to be an intricate machine that can project a person into a ghost-like incorporeal state. And what seems to be fun and games soon turn out to have deadly consequences.
The concept idea of this machine is actually interesting, and it is apparently based on some real idea, nay fantasy idea of some long dead inventor.
However, the storyline just wasn't impressive enough to make "The Ghostmaker" a particularly enjoyable horror movie. Why? Well, because it was so predictable that it hurt. You knew what would happen long before it did, and you could see what would be the result of things in the movie a mile away.
The acting in the movie was fairly good, and people did perform adequately with their given roles, despite having a fairly generic script and storyline to work with.
The reaper figure was actually interesting, especially since it was tied to the coffin and had machinery parts to it as well. That was actually a great touch of detail and concept idea that worked out quite well. However, it just wasn't much of a menacing presence.
And as for the special effects in the movie, well the special effects team actually managed to pull off the effects quite nicely and also in a believable manner. And that lifted up the movie quite a bit.
"The Ghostmaker" is certainly a watchable movie, you just shouldn't expect to be blown away by it. I am rating it four out of ten stars because it just isn't an outstanding or a particularly memorable movie. And as for it being a horror movie, then it just lacks to muster a punch that makes you take notice.
