An American Ghost Story
An American Ghost Story
| 01 October 2012 (USA)
An American Ghost Story Trailers

When Paul, an unemployed writer, decides to rent and live in a house that's rumored to be haunted, he puts his life and his relationships in grave danger as he obsessively attempts to get the story that will finally make his career.

Reviews
rexferal11-856-669191

Weary of slasher movies, gore just for the sake of gore, and bored with whizzo CGI effects just for the sake of whizzo CGI effects, I wanted to settle back to a simple, straight forward Ghost Story. One with a solid story line which, more or less, was neatly tethered to some level of reality and played out by reasonably decent actors.In spite of rather low ratings and a couple of mindless reviews, I decided to watch this movie. I stumbled onto an excellent choice! The script is well conceived, logical and moves along smoothly without needless twists and turns. The story, although not altogether original, is captivating and the acting... well, this gem is blessed with exceptionally good acting - not forced, in your face, nor over the top. The actors render natural and consistent portrayals. The film is suspenseful with plenty of scary moments. The music score alone is sufficient to keep you on edge while inflicting huge goose bumps. The cinematography is excellent overall. Ahh, 'tis a wonderful thing to indulge in a well made spooky movie! A must see for serious spook fans.

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aj-matthews77

I actually watched this awhile ago, I didn't comment then because I didn't feel qualified too. Since then I have made a few movies myself, and launched a TV series, so I feel a bit better about it now. From a tech stand point the two biggest things I look for are lighting and audio and I had no issues with either. I felt the lighting reflected the mood and the audio made sense (quality and how it sounded, it didn't sound like it was all done in studio etc and great use of ambient noise)I love the use of practical effects,seems more authentic and actually makes life in post significantly easier. Sure, the acting wasn't consistently spectacular but for $2,000 to put this together, I think they should all be proud and I can't wait for more to come, with bigger budgets. That was the moment I realized I didn't need to be rich or from Hollywood to make something I was proud of, so thanks guys. Also thanks to Stephen T for taking the time to talk to me back when I first saw the film. You inspired me.

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mknight388

I don't care if low-budget or not, this was the worst film I have ever seen. I am not a film maker but give me a camera and a few hundred dollars and I could put this film to shame. All I would have to do is buy some sheets and put some people under them as well as hire a couple of very over-the-top actors, then I would have a making for a hit over this garbage. I am sorry for being so negative but I need that part of my life back where I watched this landslide. There was no sympathy for the main characters which should be developed throughout the film in any horror/scary film. Actually I found it to be very comical as I watched them plod through their lines almost as if they were ready to bust out laughing at what they were doing. For aspiring film makers, watch this as a antidote of everything not to do in a film.

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The_Dead_See

If you can stomach the usual weaknesses with independent horrors - directors, editors and actors that are still, shall we say, in the process of perfecting their art - then you should give this one a shot. It's a genuinely fun little ghost movie that I enjoyed far more than much of the mainstream ghost movies of recent years. The movie begins a little rough, with a number of ghost movie clichés that led me to believe I was going to watch a yawn inducing tale of a guy who moves into a haunted house where the previous owner went crazy and killed his family, and I expected the protagonist would be possessed (a la Amityville Horror) and gradually get crazier until he killed his girlfriend and that would be that. But after the first half hour, the girlfriend (quite wisely) leaves and doesn't come back. The movie continues as a man vs ghost tale that really has a lot of fun moments. The film makers ingeniously skirted their lack of budget by actually making the ghost be a guy in a sheet. As crazy as this sounds they actually manage to pull off some scary moments with the gimmick.As independents go, this is definitely one of the better ones, perhaps more because of its fun and heart than its movie-making prowess, but fun and heart can make for a good couple hours. 6/10.

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