Still upset over the death of their father, a woman and her son try to piece their lives together find that the deaths of her friends and acquaintances is the result of a serial killer transformed into the computer networks forcing her to turn to a computer expert to stop him before it kills everyone.When it tried there are a couple of rather good things about this. One of the better features here is the fact that the storyline was quite an interesting concept, and it's really handled decently for the most part. The originality of the concept is nice to see at the time, utilizing the unfamiliar technology that would've been just introduced to most at the time while introducing the concept of the killer's reasoning for the rampage which gives this a rather topical touch and is a welcome change from the normal slashers at the time. Seeing the lengths he goes to in order to track them down both her and those within her address book both out in the real world or in her house adds a great dimension to the concept of the fear in this one, and manages to provide some nice action along the way. The opening car accident gives this a great action-packed opening which featured something new, a car sliding on its roof through a graveyard from the driver's point of view, the different traps around the house where one gets their skin melted off in a super- heated room or being trapped under a rapidly-closing pool cover all work since several of the kills in here are pretty nice, while the funeral sequence where a crematorium furnace fires a coffin back out and a charred corpse goes flying into the audience of mourners is a rather effective shock moment. The final conflagration is rather decent in its over-the-top hysterics within the big machine compound and ends it rather nicely filled with some nice stalking with the race to get everything prepared to stop him provides a lot to like. These here really work nicely for this one even though this is still a far below decent film. The biggest flaw is the fact that the film makes absolutely no sense at all since there's nothing here to tell what's going on, how the killer came into its present state of being, or how it even worked in the first place. It's all just really taken for granted and doesn't offer any explanations for anything. There's not even any hesitation whatsoever and no awe as to the killer's newfound abilities, which is what normally happens in this kind of movie to offer an attempt at an explanation, but this just ignores it and doesn't tell what happened to anything. The other big factor is the fact that nothing even really happens at all, and most of the time resorts to techno-babble that doesn't explain anything at all. There are only a few kills in the film and they're so spread out that it's a long time to get started. It's just an all-around dull and lifeless affair trying to hope something happens, and it really leaves this one quite spread out in terms of its action. Otherwise, this was a boring slasher film with a few decent scenes to put above the dull, but it's still not that impressive.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and violence-against-animals.

Josh Munroe likes to pull scams with his friend Frazer. His single computer-illiterate mom Terry (Karen Allen) is overwhelmed. Karl Hochman is a technician at the computer store and also "The Address-Book Killer". He gets into a car crash and sent to the hospital. As he gets a CAT scan, an electrical surge downloads his consciousness into the network. He retrieves a page from Terry's address book and starts killing people on that page. Former computer hacker Bram Walker (Chris Mulkey) turn white hat in a main frame company tracks down the ghost in the machine.The kid is annoying while a brat. Karen Allen isn't able to save him or the movie. Mulkey is too old and doesn't look like a hacker. He's more of a blue collar guy. This was a time before the internet took off. I'm willing to accept some of the cheesy ideas about computers. The filmmakers spent a lot of time and money to represent the computer world but it isn't that compelling. It looks kind of bad. There are moments of fun horror. The kills are similar to the Final Destination movies. However, every good moment is interrupted by a bad moment like the creepy stripe tease in front of the boys. In the end, the bad moments outnumber the good.

I may be a little biased for certain obvious reasons, but I loved this movie. I normally don't enjoy movies that have ideas of technology in them, especially if the technology is acting up in a manner that makes me feel threatened (and believe me, I felt threatened on a total of seven different occasions). I made an exception to this film because I trust Chris Mulkey's peculiar choice in his rolls (very complicated in many respects). The theme of this movie is serial killers and technology; what would happen to us if a serial killer were able to use technology to serially kill. It's a poignant idea, though not really one that I would normally volunteer myself to confront, and even though ***SPOILER ALERT*** the killer was eventually foiled, ***END SPOILER ALERT*** I worry that maybe actual serial killers may use this film to find out about technology, and try to use technology to commit their crime. I can only assume that serial killers do not currently use the internet, so I feel safe right now (for the most part,) but no one can say what the future holds for us. I hope this film is not in our future (though I fear that it may be, especially when I see the news that's going on in the world). I can guarantee that I will no longer allow my children to visit any arcade alone, or buy software for our computer, alone. But even with these preventive measures, I cannot feel safe, now. This film really drives home just how dependent on electricity, and technology we really are (--we are very dependent!!). Bravo to Chris Mulkey et. all for taking on such a brave subject matter. It is about time that someone questioned all of this change that's going on around us. One only has to look at the news going on in the world to see. I suggest you watch this film with your children so that can be more wary too about the safe use of technology.

The opening credits to "Ghost in the Machine" show over a background of simulated computer circuitry at a microscopic level. The effects are just about what you would expect from the original "Lost in Space" television series, and I'm thinking to myself that surely this movie was made no later than 1980. Then I check its info on my digital cable...danger, Will Robinson! It was made in 1993. Wow, I think to myself, I don't remember special effects being that bad back in my teenage days. But hold on, I remind myself, wasn't T2 made in 1991, even before this movie? Then it hits me: "Ghost in the Machine" just really really sucks. But by then it's too late and I'm sucked into it's riveting story line...if by riveting you mean mind numbingly retarded."Ghost in the Machine" takes place somewhere in Ohio, a location as befittingly bland and pointless as this film. (I actually forget exactly what town it takes place in because I performed a lobotomy on myself right after viewing this pile of crap.) The main premise is that some serial killer guy, about whom we are given no background information other than he sports the smile of a child molester and likes to drive into oncoming traffic, transfers his consciousness upon his death into a vast computer network into which apparently every computer in the country is hooked up to. Surely, had Al Gore's nefarious scheme to invent this so-called "internet" been thwarted, the subsequent tragic deaths of several innocents would have been avoided. But alas, Bill Clinton was elected, and the fun's just beginning.There exists a solemn, unspoken trust between filmmaker and viewer. This covenant is summed up by the concept of suspension of disbelief. (I'm going somewhere with this, just give me a second.) In other words, the viewer agrees to temporarily accept the reality posited by the film, and in exchange the filmmaker agrees to keep the story line roughly within the bounds of that reality. The writers of "Ghost in the Machine" saw fit to not-so-delicately urinate all over that covenant, and just when you think they couldn't possibly desecrate it anymore, they proceed to pull down their pants and spray diarrhea all over it.Just what exactly am I talking about? OK, OK, so the killer's consciousness is supposedly now in the form of computer data. I'll buy that. It starts gathering information about the people it wants to kill...everything's still cool. The moment I call bull is when the killer is able to enact its whims through whichever electronic device it chooses. Apparently there is no distinction between a data network and the power grid in this universe; the killer happily goes about terrorizing people with microwaves, dishwashers, and pool covers that have no data storage capacity to speak of and aren't even hooked up to the network in which his consciousness is stored. The filmmakers further insult the viewers' intelligence by giving the killer the ability to make these devices do things WHICH THEY ARE PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF DOING. For example, one poor schmuck is killed when the business end of a hair dryer spews 10 foot long flames. Another moron meets his doom when the killer fills AN ENTIRE ROOM WITH RADIATION FROM A MICROWAVE OVEN. I mean, if these devices were actually designed to do these things, the terrorists would have already won. I can take some level of stupid, but when I am looking for the nearest pane of glass to throw myself through, it's gotten bad.The heroes temporarily keep the killer at bay by putting tape over the electrical outlets in their house (I am NOT making this up). Apparently this guy can use a seemingly harmless kitchen appliance to roast human flesh but cannot make his way through a bit of weak polymeric adhesive material. I mean, have you ever heard of an electronic serial killer ghost stopped by mere tape? Yeah, I didn't think so. Needless to say, the heroes succeed in overcoming the killer in an ending so stupid that summarizing it will lower my IQ another ten points.The real question I have for the makers of "Ghost in the Machine" is this: if the killer can at a whim transfer himself from computer network to power grid to phone lines, why can't he go into other utilities as well? Why stop at electronics? Imagine if he were to get into the gas mains and emit poisonous mustard gas! Or, how about getting into the water lines and creating an army of angry steam zombies? Cable lines, air ducts, sewer systems...the sky's the limit here. I smell sequel. Just please remember me in the credits when you make "Ghost in the Machine 2: Now with 50% More Stupid." In conclusion, there are bad movies, there are awful movies, and then there's "Ghost in the Machine." If you get the urge to see for yourself how truly bad this movie is, I advise you find the nearest steel pipe and bang yourself in the head with it for ninety minutes. I guarantee a lot more entertainment and far less pain.