(2020)
Dir - Turner Clay
Overall: WOOF
The first major misstep in Turn Clay's mico-budgeted faux documentary series, The Blackwell Ghost 5 makes the faux pas of dragging things out to redundant and unwatchable levels. Continuing the arc of the previous two installments, (neither of which has anything to do with the Blackwell Ghost of the title), Clay jumps right back into the same Florida haunted summer house and also right back into the same ghostly shenanigans, as well as his way of trying the audience's patience. What little information arrives could have easily been given to us in the two movies that proceed this one, (let alone the ones that follow), and Clay fails to come up with any interesting new bumps-in-the-night sequences on top of the narrative brick wall. The phone still rings at 2:47 for nothing decipherable to ever happen on the other end, the banging on the walls is incessant, and the revelation from the last movie leads to nothing but another revelation before we are given a "to be continued..." tag. Again. A shower faucet turning on and a hole in a closet is hardly enough to warrant the seventy-two minutes that we spend here, plus Clay keeps piling on more scary music to break verisimilitude with each release, probably because he realized that nothing frightening is happening otherwise.
(2022)
Dir - Turner Clay
Overall: MEH
A much needed break was taken in Turner Clay's Blackwell Ghost series to drop the arc of the previous three films which even though were left on yet another cliffhanger, are thankfully jettisoned to only partially reference them here. The Blackwell Ghost 6 takes a bold move by killing off Clay's wife, leaving him with two toddlers to take care of and because ghosts, also gives him a new haunted house angle. This time it is his own home that starts experiencing unexplained occurrences around his wife's old keyboard which randomly pops back into his life. Though it is comparatively better than its skippable and immediate predecessor, it still suffers from the usual ailments. The use of scary music was and is always a problem in found footage, and Clay indulges in it more than most, actually layering it over the naturally captured audio of the supernatural things going down. Another persistent issue is the monotonous feel and dragged-out randomness of those supernatural things that are dished out maybe one or two a night, disappearing entirely for weeks, and then repeating themselves later while itching to a reveal at a snail's pace. Clay's ethereal wife, (presumably), sure is taking her sweet time trying to convey whatever it is that she is conveying from the beyond, but at least the emotional hook is more prominent this time, plus it all seems to be heading somewhere that may be interesting if Clay would only trim the fat already.
(2022)
Dir - Turner Clay
Overall: MEH
In the mockumentary framework that filmmaker Turner Clay has used throughout his Blackwell Ghost series, he has so far created enough plausibility to warrant each new installment as something that his fictionalized self would offer to the masses. That all changes with The Blackwell Ghost 7, which takes a hard left turn and ups the ante with few if any supernatural occurrences, but instead has a masked serial killer who toys with our do-good narrator. Which poses the immediate question; why in the hell would Clay's on-screen persona cinematically edit and then release a finished film about a psychopath harassing him and his kids? It is a ridiculous pill to swallow and despite some gasp-worthy reveals, (as well as some predictable ones), as well as arguably Clay's best performance on screen to date, the entire thing collapses under its very premise. The franchise is still keeping its toes wet in the found footage genre, but Clay's penchant for continuous scary music and more shots than ever which scream "Who is filming this?" interrupt the otherwise realistic agenda. It is as if we are watching a fully-formed, professionally made true crime documentary done by the victim of the person committing the crime, as it is happening. If one can ignore such an elephant in the room though, it is compelling enough stuff.
(2024)
Dir - Turner Clay
Overall: WOOF
Continuing in the about face taken in the previous installment, The Blackwell Ghost 8 pushes plausibility further than ever, which is saying something since this is coming after several entries where ghosts banged doors, made phone calls, and played with balls. All of the issues that were front and center with 2022's The Blackwell Ghost 7 which ushered in a new serial killer angle are intensified here. Not only is Turner Clay still making a documentary about the psycho who is sending him clues to where bodies are being delivered while simultaneously terrorizing his house, (which is absurd enough), but he, the killer, and the police all behave like buffoons. Some could question the choices made by Clay and those whom he interacted with before, but in trying to tingle the spines of the viewer and deepen the lore here, he insults the audience. Why would a guy put himself in constant danger of an admitted murderer? Why would the police refuse to have his back at every step of the way with armed guards? Why would the killer stand right behind the hapless dope in his own house, just counting on him not turning around, (which of course he fails to do)? In addition to these narrative blunders, Clay bizarrely continues his trajectory of making sure that the viewer is questioning where each of the shots are coming from. In one sequence, we have drone footage of him driving his truck, getting out of his truck, and walking up to a clue out in the middle of nowhere. Good thing that he decided, (while terrified), to operate said drone on his investigation just to make sure that we have some cinematic scenery to enjoy.
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