Directed by Michael Bafaro

watched April 26, 2009

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

April 24, 2009

Verdict: 5 of 5

Reviews of The Orphanage

Robson’s Pen

Interesting Fansite References

Horrorphile on The Orphanage

This Ghost Game movie is not to be confused with a different horror movie by the same name out of Thailand. Surely the Thai movie is better. This movie was directed by Joe Knee out of Canada.

Product Description, Self-Promotion: Plot of Ghost Game

At a weekend retreat in the mountains, three young couples discover much more than they bargained for when they stumble upon a mysterious game in the cellar… a Ghost Game. Once the ancient box is opened, the restless spirits of three murdered witches are released, and all hell breaks loose. After two brutal slayings, the survivors must discover the game’s hidden secrets before the bloodthirsty fiends claim their lives. Filled with suspense and shocks, this atmospheric shocker will make you think twice next time you throw the dice!

In this low-budget horror film a group of young people travel to a remote cabin and, to relieve their boredom, begin to play a haunted board game that summons the spirits of three girls who died in a pagan ritual.

Watching Ghost Game

Ghost Games failed to hook my attention the first couple of times I tried to watch it, but that isn’t always the fault of the movie. (ADHD – can anyone else out there relate?) The third time I actually watched Ghost Games all the way through. I was moderately entertained for the first third of the movie. For a low-budget horror flick, there were not too many “this is ridiculously stupid” moments for me as a viewer. Not at first, anyway. The second third of the movie, I was still on board and hopeful.

The precise point at which I realized there was literally no chance for Ghost Game to redeem itself was when the three ghost witches began to fight amongst themselves. Five minutes after that, the credits were rolling.

At one point, the dwindling group is collecting items for the supernatural scavenger hunt they are being forced to play, and they are looking for fire in particular. Walking through the dark woods with a lantern, they approach a burning wooden cross. Yet at no time did either mention how odd it is to find something burning on a deserted island. However, given my overall reaction to Ghost Game, this criticism was a waste of typing and I shan’t comment further!

Verdict of Ghost Game

I feel confident in saying that if you are determined to see “Ghost Game,” you’ll get more chills and thrills from the 2006 Thai movie of the same name than you will from this one.

For a couple of reasons, I expected very little out of this movie. Most of the movie was actually better than I’d hoped, but I still agree with “Alien Redrum,” a movie reviewer at Horror Talk, when he says Ghost Game is worth a weeknight rental — at most. Until I had seen the movie in its entirety, I was going to bump that up to weekend rental if, but only if you are a dyed-in-da-wool horror movie fan; however, I am not inclined to recommend this movie to anyone. And I don’t like to say that unless I have to.

It was a challenge to locate ANY reviews of this movie online; virtually every review of a horror movie called Ghost Game on the web refers to the Thai movie of the same name.

Movie Reviews

Horror Talk – Ghost Game

Standard Movie Resources

Amazon.com – Ghost Game