Search - Ghost Machine on DVD


Ghost Machine
Ghost Machine
Actors: Luke Ford, Rachael Taylor, Sean Faris
R     2009     1hr 32min

A group of young U.S. military techs borrow a top-secret combat simulator for a weekend of unauthorized gaming. But when they set up the system inside an abandoned prison used for the torture of post-9/11 prisoners, they d...  more »
     
     
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Movie Details

Actors: Luke Ford, Rachael Taylor, Sean Faris
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen
DVD Release Date: 12/22/2009
Original Release Date: 01/01/2009
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/2009
Release Year: 2009
Run Time: 1hr 32min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 1
Members Wishing: 0
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Languages: English
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Movie Reviews

B movie without the humor factor
Ravenskya | 12/23/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first DVD that Amazon Vine has ever offered me... and I was thrilled that it was horror. I should have known by the fact that I've never heard of it, that it was a B movie at best. Now I love my B movies... but usually they have a high cheese factor that I enjoy.

Short Summary - Some geeky army computer dudes have a sort of simulator that they decide to take to a haunted jail on their day off to play sim-army. But a ghostie gets in the machine and seeks revenge.

Poor Acting, poor dialog, bad makeup and editing, are all forgivable in your standard B movie... but what is NOT forgivable is the dullness of the whole film. Sure the costumes looked like they came from the Halloween emporium and the guns were amusing at best, the textures were wrong and the men had on more makeup then the women... all of that is tolerable as well in a B movie... but what makes this movie sink as a B film (because it's certainly not an A list) is the fact that it is to drawn out in the wrong parts... namely the boring parts last too long and the exciting parts are too sparse.

Script - C
Plot - B
Acting - C
Directing - F
Fun Factor - C
Pacing - F

If you catch it on the SyFy Channel you might as well watch it but don't expect much from it. I wouldn't pay to see this."
Fair Sci-Fi/Horror. And is that Tom Cruise? Oh, no it's not.
Monty Moonlight | TX | 01/21/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)

"A military special ops team (the DVD cover says U.S., but that's not the impression I got) that trains with a high-tech virtual reality program and corresponding equipment decides to have a fun gaming weekend with the gear in an old, empty prison. As it turns out though, the prison holds the ghost of a female terrorist who was tortured to death, and she is determined to kill anyone she encounters. Being a ghost, she is helpless to do so, until the virtual reality machine gives her the power. Like Freddy Krueger, she is able to harm the soldiers in their dreamlike state, and ulterior motives of the game developer only make matters worse as the team fights for its lives and tries figure out how to get back to the real world.

"Ghost Machine", a 2009 sci-fi/horror flick directed by Chris Hartwill, is a pretty decent film for its kind. It's better than what you would normally see on Sci-Fi channel, but not big screen quality. The effects are good enough, the story is interesting, the characters and acting is all fair. It's nothing exceptional these days, but it keeps you interested if it's the type of story you like. I'm not big on military stuff, but this was more about virtual reality getting out of control. Their aren't many characters and they are different enough not to get confused, which is good in a horror film focusing on soldiers. The tech-guy who created the game (played by Sean Faris), incidentally, comes off totally as a Tom Cruise character, in my opinion, looking and acting more and more like him as the film progressed (the character is even named Tom!). It seems a conscious choice by the filmmakers, but who knows. It's kinda funny though. I didn't find the ghost all that horrifying/ghostly, but I guess I'd use the word "acceptable". However, the one thing that really bugged me about this film was the ending. It was one of those films that doesn't give you a definite ending, and that annoys me. I guess it could have been worse, but still, that tactic has been way overdone already. In this particular case, it was an interesting ending, but still an unsatisfying cliffhanger.

The DVD holds an interview with the writer, a behind the scenes featurette, and the film trailer. It's a nice little selection of good supplements. Of course, there could have been a lot more, commentary at least, but that would have just held up my review even longer and it's not like this film is a classic or blockbuster or something. My recommendation is to get this one only if you are really into the subject matter or one of the stars (Rachael Taylor of Transformers and Luke Ford of Mummy 3 also play big roles). You could do worse for sure, but be prepared for one of those aggravating endings that leaves you hanging.



"
It Had Potential
Ursula K. Raphael | USA | 01/01/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)

"As soon as I saw a trailer for Stan Helsing on the DVD, I lowered my expectations, and hoped Ghost Machine would be much better.

The movie starts with a female prisoner being dragged into an interrogation cell, then it flashes forward 9 years to some techies working on a combat simulation program for the military. You don't find out what happened to the prisoner, until flashbacks later in the movie. As the prisoner was tortured to death, her spirit seeks revenge, using the computer to make kills that have a lasting effect in the real world (think of Stay Alive meets Soldier ).

I was surprised at how weak the acting was. I've seen previous work from the cast (which was pretty good), so I'm assuming they had must have had a lousy script and/or a bad director to deal with.

In addition to the drab dialogue, the sound quality was horrible. I cranked my sound system, and still had trouble hearing the actors, but the sound effects blasted out. I can think of dozens of no-budget B-movies with better sound production.

I can't believe it was over 30 minutes into the movie before it got interesting. however, the second half of the movie was far better than the first half, once the supernatural action began. (That's the only reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 2.) They should have spent less time with the techies conversations, and had more scenes with the torture spirit.

The ending was kind of a cliche twist, but not too bad."
Not good enough to watch more than once
D. Krepak | 12/21/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)

"Science fiction with some horror combined neither of which are done very well. Not awful but not something I would watch again. There is a lot of action. It isn't scary. CGI effects were poor. I thought by the description it sounded pretty good but it just goes to show you you can't judge a book by it's cover (or description)."