So I watched a paranormal investigator style horror movie today, who would have guessed that? The acting I won't say is bad, instead I'll say it's green... at first I thought it was going to be one of those low budget religious orientated horrors where they preach mental illness is actually paranormal, something along those lines, but it doesn't go that way, and ultimately it turned out to not be a bad story at all, and actually rather enjoyable once you make it past the cacophony of the amateur which many would find insurmountable... I say give this one a shot. Movie: SPIRIT STALKERS Where: Amazon My Rating: 3/5 or 7/10

SPIRIT STALKERS is yet another found footage-style horror movie about a paranormal TV crew investigating a haunted house. It's just a normal suburban home, too, not some creepy, genuinely atmospheric abandoned location. What follows is an exercise in boredom, I suppose stylistically similar to the likes of GHOSTWATCH but by far the inferior movie. The stilted performances are an embarrassment and there's only one decent scare in the whole thing, involving worms.

This is a contribution to a very tired genre. The haunted house flick. A woman is experiencing paranormal phenomena;i.e. doors closing by themselves, strange noises, night terrors, ghostly voices. Because she was diagnosed with schizophrenia,and was on continued treatment for it, she shrugged it off. Until one too many things drove her over the edge. Believe it or not, it was finding her just folded laundry strewn about the room that did it. Her daughter contacts spirit stalkers, who come in to 'save the day'.Unfortunately, she had contacted Miss Louise, a genuine psychic, who comes to her house and tells her that there is a deep evil there. She must take herself and her daughter away. She will 'cleanse' the house, for a fee ($5000). Ex hubby is peeved, and worried.So the spirit stalkers come and catch 'real footage' of a 'ghost'. They also catch EVP evidence. After Reuben, the lead spirit stalker, tells Gloria, the woman, that the spirits won't hurt her, he offers to put her and her daughter Kelly up in a hotel for a couple of nights so that the show can do some follow up. Before mom leaves, she has to go back for the keys. Unfortunately, the spirits-the old man who had a stroke and killed his much younger wife, the murderous mom and her two butchered kids and the dead younger wife-infest her and she kills her daughter then herself.Reuben discovers that his crew conspired with the psychic to 'plant' a ghost, which turns out to be the psychic's granddaughter. Reuben confronts his crew and lays it on the line; they had driven Gloria insane with their shenanigans, and are therefore responsible for the deaths of Gloria and Kelly.Unfortunately, the ghosts, which turn out to be real, take advantage of the mental weaknesses of the crew and slaughter them all.This was a frightfully dull movie. The actor playing Reuben was the only one who seemed to actually care about his performance. The rest of the cast was lackluster and bland. The 'father' came off as gay, if you can believe it. All in all a very disappointing view.

This provided an almost voyeuristic experience in horror as it seemed so realistic. The blend of a scientific examination of phenomenon with the horror of the unexplainable was a potent mix. This was the key in character building a compelling storyline that delivered in explosive style. If you like watching the reality TV stuff where ghost hunting goes on this will seem like a natural thing to watch and gets your guard down as it starts to lead into a territory that if far from familiar in such programmes. This was really a very good production and if it had not been it would have easily resulted in the screen horror being discounted as something one can distance from as light entertainment. This was instead a dose of heavy entertainment. I would recommend it, but suggest that you do not watch it alone.