Genre: Horror

Director:  David Ryan Keith

Cast: Paul Flannery and Michael Koltes

Studio: Uncork’d Entertainment Pictures

Runtime: 82 Minutes

Rated: NR

Rating ★★★★★

Who doesn’t enjoy good B-movie fun? Not every film can be high-class and I’ll admit cheesy B-movies are my guilty pleasure. With Ghosts of Darkness at first it felt like I was going to get just that. After an over-the-top gory opening scene, the film grabbed my interest and I was excited to continue watching. Then we get into the actual plot.

Ghosts of Darkness, directed by David Ryan Keith, is about paranormal investigators Jack Donavan (Michael Koltes) and Jonathan Blazer (Paul Flannery) who are hired to stay in a haunted house for three nights in order to solve a 100-year-old mystery. If they survive, they’ll each be rewarded $50,000. Despite being skeptical, Donavan and Blazer soon realize just how dangerous the house really is.

Jonathan Blazer and Jack Donavan played by Paul Flannery and Michael Koltes.

What follows is every haunted house movie that’s come out over the last few decades. A door opens and closes by itself; mysterious noises echo throughout the house; objects move on their own accord; and the occasional jump-scare happens. These tropes have been done to death—to the point of being overdone — and unfortunately, director Keith fails to do anything new with them.

It doesn’t help that most of Ghosts of Darkness revolves around Jack and Jonathan sitting and discussing their predicament. This easily takes up the first two acts of the film and it starts to drag to a crawl because of it. It’s common practice for a horror movie to start off slow in order to create suspense and build-up but the pay-off in this movie is lacking. It builds and builds but when we get to the finale, it ends in an unsatisfying way

Tonally, the movie is all over the place. It can’t decide if it wants to be a serious horror movie, a comedy, or a mash-up of both. One scene shows Donavan flashing back to a traumatic moment from his past, while the next focuses on Donavan and Blazer confronting a ghost in the same manner as a Scooby-Doo episode. Instead of picking one consistent tone for Ghosts of Darkness, Keith throws several at the wall in the hope one will stick. Instead, he creates a tonal mess.

Jack and Jonathan get an unexpected visitor.

One element that’s noteworthy is the entire film takes place in the house. It helps make Ghosts of Darkness feel a bit claustrophobic and personal. The single location provides for some interesting sequences. There’s a scene where the ghosts start to change the layout of the house; for instance, putting a wall where a door once was. This aspect isn’t used as much as it could be, which is a shame as it would have added to the uneasiness factor  had the house kept changing throughout  the three nights Donovan and Blazer spend there.

The special effects are a mixed bag. They’re mainly practical, which is admirable, but some feel unfinished. There’s a scene near the climax where one of our heroes  pulls a knife out of  his leg and there’s not a single drop of blood on it. The ghosts themselves, however, have fascinating designs, all of them being in various states of decay. They also have demonic voices that are cheesy but entertaining nonetheless. I  wish there had been more of them as they only show up in a handful of scenes.

Flannery’s performance is entertaining at times as he hams it up and fires off some funny one-liners. Not all of these quips hit the mark but the ones that do catch you off guard and are funnier because of it. If only the same could be said about Koltes’ performance, as it seems like he is sleep walking throughout his scenes. He delivers every line with soap opera staccato, making any serious scene with him laughable. By the end, Koltes becomes the worst part of Ghosts of Darkness.

There are moments of cheesy fun to be had with Ghosts of Darkness but these moments are far and few between. With an inconsistent tone, one grating performance by Koltes, and a lack of scary scenes, you’re better off skipping this one.

Ghosts of Darkness will be released on demand, Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

All photos © 2017 Uncork’d Entertainment Pictures. All Rights Reserved.