Judas Ghost (2013)
Starring: Martin Delaney, Lucy Cudden, Simon Merrells, Alexander
Perkins, Graham Fox
My Review and Thoughts:
“There’s something out there in the dark, and I think it
knows me.”
This is a very interesting, and memorable ghost film.
A group of ghost finders enter an old Village Hall to find the haunting, that people are talking about, and
also film it. Jerry the host, Mark the camera man, Anna the medium, Ian the
Technical person. They are all your players.
The locals have been feeling something, the children are
scared to enter in the place anymore. People say they smell blood. So begins there journey
into trying to solve or understand what is going on. The film displays itself
as a learning episode, or a training video on what to expect, or do, during a
haunting, and how to investigate it, and solve it. As Jerry talks into the camera, you the viewer flashback to older cases that have been filmed. There is an
element of comedy in moments. There is a mix of found footage style of film
making. The crew takes you through many styles of haunting, Possession, Poltergeist,
Ghost, Beasts, and so on.
This movie is with a basic 5 person operation, in one room,
other than flashbacks, you stay in that room for the whole movie. Mark the camera man was once a major Ghost Hunter, he has suffered a mental break down, because of a passed case that almost destroyed
him. Jerry the host, is a smug style character, who is more of the sophisticated
character. Jerry at the start puts stuff off as non-chalant. As the
movie moves forward, the situation grows deeper, twisted, and the ghost start
playing tricks. Soon they realize that this is not just a mere haunting, and is
more deadly, then they ever imagined. One of the flaws of the film is you the viewer have to figure out way these persons are doing this? How do they come up with or use some powers of protection without any definition. The movie lacks explanation on many things. It's not a huge flaw, but it is there.
For an indie supernatural horror film, I think it’s a solid
film. There are moments of creepy reality. Moments of funny humor. The acting
is really good. I enjoyed each player, and there characterizations. Each one
held their own, worthy to speak about, and give accolades to each performance.
This was directed in the independent style, and works for the lover of lower
budget films. It almost plays out like a TV episode of an anthology series, such
as The X-files, or The Twilight Zone, or The Outer Limits. One series this film
reminds me a lot of is the Showtime series Poltergeist. I was entertained, and
it held my attention until the very end. I really liked the setup, storyline, and conclusion. The deeper the story transgresses, the plot becomes even more
interesting, and the viewer finds himself wanting to know what happens next. Just when you’re satisfied the
film moves forward, and becomes something even more then you thought it would
be.
Directed by Simon Pearce. This is his second feature length
film. This is my second experience with his directing, and I think for this
film, he did another good job. His first feature length film was the 2009
Drama, Shank, which is a wonderful film. Pearce has truly a natural talent
in directing what he wants to display, and crafts that visual reality on screen
in great detail.
Written by Simon R. Green. What I can tell, this is his first
film as script writer, and he did a great job at creating a nice, tense at
times, ghost film that adds humor, alongside a smart reality to this tired
genera of ghost hunting films. There is a more originality to this film, because
it creates a reality base around the haunting. This is actually based on his
series of books. Simon is a wonderful author who has written many books of
fantasy, horror, and so on. This film is an adaption of his, The Ghost Finders
Series. As of this writing there is 6 books in the series.
Martin Delaney is a phenomenal actor that has been in many
wonderful films. He did a great job in this one as Jerry. The smug, down to
earth, logical one who basically tries to keep his cool, and showcases an
unimpressed reality toward the haunting. Equally impressive is actor Simon
Merrells as Mark, the camera man, and the one who has a past. He gives a
wonderful performance as the man living with the nightmare of his past, haunted
by the reality of being involved with a haunting that killed his fellow ghost
hunters. Simon is a great actor, most recently could be seen in the TV Series
Dominion, and also The Tomorrow People. Also starring the beautiful Lucy Cudden.
She gives a great performance as the medium Anna. She adds a personal touch to
the story. Alexander Perkins gives a great performance also as the nerdy,
techno, geeky, scaredy cat style persona. All the cast play off each other’s
performances. Each one adds a depth to their characters. Graham Fox was creepy
and disturbing in his character of the Ghost. He added a twisted performance.
Overall this is a cool, logical, ghost film. A great little
independent ghost haunting, supernatural horror film that gives a reality that
would be good as a TV Series. It was very entertaining. Go into this wanting a low budget, with a Drive-in flare to it, and you will be satisfied. It has all the trademarks of a B-grade film, but with solid acting, some really cool special effects, and a great storyline.