I was originally provided with a screener of the Jason Miller written and directed Ghosts of the Void a few months back, but upon going to watch it for review the screener link no longer worked. Rather than do the logical thing and request a new screener link, I moved onto the next film on my list instead, and soon this faded out my mind. Recently, I was again offered a screener of the film, and so I have finally gotten a chance to check out this movie. You've heard of 'home invasion' movies, well this cousin of that sub-genre of horror falls into what I have dubbed 'car invasion', is nice to see The Strangers types are also accommodating to people living out of their cars!
Married couple, Jen (Tedra Millan) and Tyler (Michael Reagan - Lovecraft Country TV series) have fallen on hard times, with things getting so bad that they have recently become homeless altogether. Rather than use the last of their money on a motel room for the night, the couple have decided to drive to a remote car park near a country club, and spend the night there sleeping in their car. They have deep seated psychological problems as a result of their hardship, both suffering depression, with Tyler being a secret alcoholic with an angry streak, while Jen is suffering severe anxiety, prone to frequent all consuming panic attacks. Hearing strange noises outside late at night, Jen becomes alarmed that someone might be there, intending to cause them harm. This appears to be the case when she discovers someone has put a clamp on their car, and soon she begins to see masked figures off in the trees. The night swiftly turns to terror, with the pair fighting for their lives against these mysterious silent assailants.
Doing my usual thing of not bothering to read the synopsis, I assumed from the title this would be a supernatural horror, and there are early signs this could possibly be the case, such as when Jen hears a twisted message tailored to her coming out of the car radio. With a side character of a homeless man (Samuel Taylor) also encountering the masked figures, it become clear that while Jen might have an unhealthy dose of audial hallucinations, likely a result of her severe sleep deprivation due to worrying about debt collectors, the physical threat is real for the pair. Scenes are sometimes shown from an unreliable perspective, with events not always being as they appeared to be, occasionally having the actual reality being shown to the viewer as short swiftly edited inserted sequences. I had feared that this would fall on the tired trope of the couple actually being in some sort of hellish purgatory, but things were not as simple as that overused idea. The general plot wasn't bad, but it felt like there were parts around the edges which were not as explained as well.
Roughly a fifth of the film takes place via flashbacks that have the couple still living in their apartment. These are often short scenes never more than a few minutes long, and show the couple in slightly happier times, but with the rising debt already threatening to drown them. These brightly lit moments are in sharp contrast to the present day sections that take place in extreme darkness, it's good that the antagonists have white masks on as otherwise it may have been impossible to see them in the dark woods. Talking of those masks, they were suitably demonic looking, with the silence from these people adding to the creepy feel. Their actions, at least with relation to Jen, are not as nasty as in other films, but they are still certainly nasty people who have an ode of foreboding to them.
I don't know what it is about horror films I am watching lately, but it seems in vogue to have protagonists who are not just flawed, but actually unlikeable completely. It felt a bit harsh to think that, as these characters are in a very bad place, but they are both shown to be quite irritating. Tyler is a self destructive writer who is unable to look past his flaws. There was one flashback scene where Jen is on the phone to her mother who questions why Tyler won't just get a job outside of writing, I did kind of agree with her. Jen should have been a more likeable character, but she became super annoying, falling into panic attacks at the slightest provocation, while she too seemed unwilling to try and get a proper job, instead being an amateur photographer that charges 'whatever people can afford' to her clients. Their plight was fitting for the cost of living crisis that is affecting people at the moment, horror films often work wonderfully at being a mirror to the issues of the time they were made in, but these characters did feel like they were their own worst enemies. I think if the flashback sequences had also included scenes set before they started to get into debt it might have helped things. As it was, it just gave the impression they were always a dysfunctional couple. In addition to the cost of living crisis comparisons, more than anything this is a critique of the notion of the 'American Dream', the movie even begins and ends with the iconic quote from comedian George Carlin popping up on screen; "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it".
I don't know what it is about horror films I am watching lately, but it seems in vogue to have protagonists who are not just flawed, but actually unlikeable completely. It felt a bit harsh to think that, as these characters are in a very bad place, but they are both shown to be quite irritating. Tyler is a self destructive writer who is unable to look past his flaws. There was one flashback scene where Jen is on the phone to her mother who questions why Tyler won't just get a job outside of writing, I did kind of agree with her. Jen should have been a more likeable character, but she became super annoying, falling into panic attacks at the slightest provocation, while she too seemed unwilling to try and get a proper job, instead being an amateur photographer that charges 'whatever people can afford' to her clients. Their plight was fitting for the cost of living crisis that is affecting people at the moment, horror films often work wonderfully at being a mirror to the issues of the time they were made in, but these characters did feel like they were their own worst enemies. I think if the flashback sequences had also included scenes set before they started to get into debt it might have helped things. As it was, it just gave the impression they were always a dysfunctional couple. In addition to the cost of living crisis comparisons, more than anything this is a critique of the notion of the 'American Dream', the movie even begins and ends with the iconic quote from comedian George Carlin popping up on screen; "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it".
I didn't like the couple, but I did think the film was well made, it had a great melancholic score, and the editing in particular was a strong part of this. The synopsis for the story also worked for me, Jen not being able to sleep, but being severely sleep deprived was a relatable horror as that is something that afflicts me sometimes (such at the moment actually), while struggles with bills is something that most of us can identify with in these bleak times. Comparatively not much really happens, but there is a tense feeling of persistent threat that maintained my interest throughout this bleak horror. Ghosts of the Void became available to watch on Digital and on Demand from November 7th.
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