Dir - H.P. Mendoza
Overall: GOOD
A Kickstarted, economist haunted house film of sorts from independent filmmaker H.P. Mendoza, I Am a Ghost is a refreshing take on the genre due to its minimalist production values, as well as an unconventional presentation and narrative. Besides the disembodied voice of Jeannie Barroga, Anna Ishida is the only actor who is focused on; an unassuming young woman who goes about her day alone in a spacious house that looks as if it was shot in an authentic, old timey bed and breakfast. An unorthodox opening title sequence sets the stage for the equally singular movie that follows it, as the same scenes are shown over and over again in varying orders and with subtle tweaks introduced to them until we finally get some dialog to calm the viewer's frustration. Tackling lingering spirits who are stuck on the mortal plane as well as the mediums whose business it is to guide those spirits into a proper afterlife, it revitalizes some familiar concepts in a manner that is equally challenging, funny, and thought-provoking. While some of the budgetary issues result in cartoon monster faces and faulty scare tactics in the final act, the film is heavy on a singular style with its disjointed construction, photographic/rounded-corner aspect ratio, undisclosed period setting, stilted dialog, lush surreal flourishes, and some otherwise startling creepiness. Mendoza crafts something that is intimate while being simultaneously fragmented, which further mirrors the concept of specters going through a disjointed afterlife.
Dir - Josh Trank
Overall: MEH
Gimmicky yet fun to a point, John Trank and Max Landis' Chronicle is burdened by a pointless found footage presentation which is so illogically utilized that it undermines an otherwise acceptable super villain origin story. Found footage movies inherently struggle with the probability of its characters pointing the camera at incredible occurrences come hell or high water and this example is one of the most laughably convoluted. Dane DeHaan both choosing to and being allowed to bring a bulky, expensive camera to school and everywhere else in his life is ridiculous enough, but as he and two other fellow students gain physics-manipulating powers and the trusty cameras are always capturing everything in a cinematically conventional manner, it crosses over into the frustrating and unnecessary. By the would-be thrilling conclusion, the rapid editing between all manner of camera comes off as if the filmmakers just gave up in maintaining any law or order within their chosen method. This erroneous decision aside, the narrative follows a predictable chain of events where power corrupts the one person on screen who we never doubt for a second will be corrupted, but there are still some interesting set pieces that spring up along the way. The special effects work occasionally dips its toes into embarrassment, but it is largely on the up-and-up and the movie works most effectively when exploring how three high school kids who would otherwise never click as a trio all manage to bond together with their mysterious, newfound abilities and hopes for the future.
Dir - Tsutomu Hanabusa
Overall: WOOF
What exactly went wrong behind the scenes for the latter Ringu installment Sadako 3D is anyone's guess, but in any event, decisions were made, money was spent, and a terrible sequel/reboot of sorts was produced. An adaptation of Koji Suzuki's fifth book in the series, director Tsutomu Hanabusa takes his first crack at the horror genre which may explain why the results are so abysmal. A bombardment of unacceptably awful CGI effects have the adverse effect of whatever they were supposed to achieve, instead taking one out of the proceedings long before the laughably misguided, over-the-top finale arrives. Said conclusion finds our main protagonist squaring off against a full-blown army of "girl from the well" ghosts who have inexplicably turned into cartoon spider monsters that explode into pixelated leaves every time that Satomi Ishihara merely screams at them. The script has rightfully been panned for its laziness and inconsistencies, so it is a fool's errand to try and make sense out of the failed potential here to update the VHS-cursing title spirit into something that is more readily accessible to spread its vengeance via laptop and cellphone. Instead, we just have non-written characters and sluggish pacing, plus big, dumb, loud, and nonsensical set pieces that look worse than place-holder graphics for a video game.
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