Gabriel S
Ugh, talk about a convoluted mess of a story that tries to be multiple things but ends up being nothing. The Ghost Within had a promising premise, the trailer showcasing traits of a ghost story like The Grudge in terms of effects and storyline, a mystery to be solved, but it just flops all the way with its bad development.
Director Lawrence Fowler being a Best Feature Film winner in the British Horror Award for The Jack in the Box (2019) — which later became a franchise; and the fact that Lawrence is prominent in horror —, I would expect better quality. But The Ghost Within is just full of failed attempts to get something going.
The story follows Margot Richardson, a traumatized adult coping with some event from her childhood that she blocked in her mind. She wants closure to move on (and also to avoid getting locked up in an asylum), so she is determined to get back to her childhood house and let her mind unblock itself to reveal the ultimate truth about her sister's murder.
A murder mystery that drives a ghost, haunting story. Pretty cool concept and one that works. But that is the only redeeming factor about this movie, everything else just goes downhill.
For starters, Margot is annoying as hell. Yes, yes, she needs psychological help, but she just plays it out by being a huge b—rather than clinically unstable. Her dialogues are either too expository or mumbo jumbo nonsense to get what she wants, without any real depth to her character other than just showing that she is, well, annoying.
Speaking of exposition, the way the story exposes facts is right on our faces. So, Margot and her husband Mason (Margot and Mason, M and M? Okay....) move to Margot's inherited childhood house so she can just wait for her mind to flip and reveal its hidden secrets. Everything seems to be left as it was, I don't remember if someone was living there and died right before she was able to move in, or if the house was just left like that for some 20 years, who knows, but the fact is that everything is just sitting there, untouched, clean and sound. Some expository newspaper clippings are also available there somehow, I wonder who left it there for our main character to find it out and read some expository news revealing some facts about the murder.
Margot also does a fine job explaining things to her husband Mason, which somehow has no idea with whom he has married to. I mean, I'm married, and my wife know a lot of stuff about my past and vice-versa. Hell, how come Margot was able to hide that she came from a wealthy family, considering her father was trialed for murder, a famous one in the story, is beyond me. But, hey, let's let it slide for the sake of character motivations.
One redeeming factor is the horror element. Yeah, it is Jumpscare Town, but some of the effects are pretty cool. After The Grudge and The Ring, I have a crush on entities that walk like freaking spiders.
However, the story itself is too convoluted.
Margot is on reactive mode for most of the storyline. When she takes some action, we are introduced to a paranormal investigation subplot that ends in nothings.
In fact, all subplots end in nothing. Mason's subplot ends in the most absurd way. The paranormal subplot, as aforementioned, also ends without closure. Same goes for supporting characters’ subplots.
Which then should lead us to the main plot, a predictable ending and the quickest char dev ever finishing the movie abruptly and unsatisfactory.
Wrap 103min of movie runtime with Michaela Longden's horrible acting — probably misdirection from Lawrence — and you get this s---show. Seriously, the acting is subpar to the point that I wanted to punch the pillow or something.
The Ghost Within fails in all aspects, an unrevised, unfinished subproduct that required better polishing and better tie-in. If it were to focus on developing the main plot on top of Margot's development, it would be predictable but at least solid. In its current state, unbearable.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/14/25
Full Review
Elvis D
Esta película británica no tiene mucho para ofrecer y se trata de una simple historia de fantasmas que recurre a lo básico y lo tradicional. Es una película de presupuesto moderado que está bien realizada y no tiene una mala producción. Hay un buen ritmo, tiene buenos jump scares y una estupenda ambientación cargada de tensión. Las escenas de Evie portando su máscara son lo mejor por lo misteriosa y tétrica que es ella. Es una película de horror mínimamente decente. La historia de Margot siendo perturbada por el espíritu de su hermana fallecida es buena, pero ya desde principio se siente predecible. El punto débil que tiene esta película es que tiene bastantes cosas que ya se han visto en otras películas. Mucho del argumento es predecible y la película lo enmienda con un giro argumental que es poco impactante. Hay que decir que The Ghost Within se siente como una de esas películas de horror de los años 2000 y eso hace que sea una película poco atractiva para alguien que espera ver algo de acuerdo a los años 2020. Si eres alguien que quiere ver algo similar a lo que se veía en el cine de terror de los años 2000, la película es adecuada. Pero si buscas ver algo diferente a todo lo ya visto, la película es decepcionante. The Ghost Within es una película que no ofrece nada nuevo y es ideal para aquellos que quieren ver una historia de fantasmas como cualquier otra. No es exactamente mala, pero no se puede esperar mucho de ella. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 7/10.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
11/10/24
Full Review
Michael B
Great, Fantastic Ghost Movie 😱😱😱😱❤️❤️❤️❤️
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/19/24
Full Review
Michael N
The Ghost Within is a well written, clever ghost story that has plenty of scares!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
04/02/24
Full Review
Tomas T
It's a shame that the effects weren't better made, then it would have been much better, but even so it wasn't a bad horror movie at all, a good one.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/03/24
Full Review
Cristhian S
La película es muy predecible desde el inicio.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
10/23/23
Full Review
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