The Meeksville Ghost (2001) User Reviews

"The saloon is kind of spooky."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 28 October 2012]

There's a neat little sub-genre of B Western films that deal with ghosts, and most of the ones I've ever seen were all made in the Thirties and Forties. There IS a very cool 1999 TV Western called "Purgatory" if you like this sort of stuff, and I recommend that one highly. I don't know if I would have ever even heard of "The Meeksville Ghost" if it hadn't popped up on the Encore Western Channel this morning. Quite honestly, the story isn't much above a B film itself, simply updated to reflect modern day sensibilities of an anachronistic Western town that will go extinct if it's founding family heirs can't reclaim their rightful heritage.

The name players in this story include Judge Reinhold and Leslie-Anne Down, the rest I've never heard of or even recognize, including Tanja Reichert, who has a decent enough number of credits here on the IMDb, but I don't watch much in the way of TV fare. The henchmen employed by Down's character Emily Meeks wouldn't make it in a real Western. It appears they were employed for a measure of comedy relief since they were essentially used as whipping boys for Reinhold's ghost character and the other male lead, Andrew Kavovit as Danny Logan.

The story follows a fairly predictable script as Danny helps the Carters find the deed to their property so they won't be forced out by Emily and the Diller Corporation. The connection between Emily and Danny becomes pretty transparent along the way as well, and if you can't figure it out, you're just not paying attention. Hanging on through the end credits I was intrigued by some of the location listings, and in doing a quick check here on IMDb, I was indeed able to confirm that the film was made in South Africa. I guess that explains a lot.

whoaa...i think this might be the worst movie ever.

[pinkdiner96 · 2/10 · 9 June 2004]

Spoiler recipe: a cowboy ghost, one hot young man, a mother and son separated at his birth by a disapproving father, time travel, a big fiery accident, a small town saved by the power of love, and top it all of with some wooden acting. stir until blended.

josh carter is visiting an old woman and her granddaughter, kate, in their small town (that is haunted by the ghost of an old cowboy), meeksville, that is currently being taken over by an evil law firm, even though the town is rightfully theirs by ancestry. he gets in a bike accident, and is knocked unconscious. he dreams himself back into time, where he meets lucius, who turns out to be the dude haunting the town, when he was still alive. lucius helps josh find the deed for the land that the town is on. the deed will prove that the land belongs to kate and "granny". right before he wakes up, lucius is killed and yada yada. then he wakes up, rejoices with kate and her grandmother, and realizes that one of the evil lawyers is actually his biological mother, whose father forced her to put josh up for adoption when he was born. so she leaves the evil law firm and kate and josh fall in love and maybe granny dies of old age, who knows? who cares? everybody else lives happily ever after.

nevermind the hysterically bad plot. the atcing was awful, the script was unintentionally funny, and everything was so tacky and low budget. what a terrible movie. my goodness.

Pale Canterville imitation

[Yale-6 · 2/10 · 17 January 2006]

This is the latest film/TV incarnation of Oscar Wilde's story, The Canterville Ghost -- and probably the worst. The only possible bit of originality was changing the site from an English castle to an American Western town, but I'll bet that had far more to do with reducing cost than exercising creativity. Despite Lesley-Ann Down's talent and experience, she wasn't convincing as a villain, or perhaps she just didn't care -- yet she was by far the best of the cast. Unlike a previous reviewer, I do not consider this the worst movie ever (my candidate for that dishonor is Attack of the Mushroom People), but must agree that this film is pretty bad.

Seek out the Meeksville Ghost, its very entertaining for families

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 1 December 2014]

Danny (Andrew Kavovit) arrives in a west Texas town, Meeksville, that has seen better days. Once a thriving post on the frontier, there's not much left but the memories. Our Dan is there to check out some abandoned gold mines for an investor. Meanwhile, Kate and her grandma, Emily, run the town's boarding house and try to preserve the village as an historical site. Yet, their deed is lost and, thus, they are at odds with another town's person, Emily Meeks (Leslie Anne Downs), who is a descendant of the village's namesake and says the place is HERS! She's a nasty lady, with two less than brilliant minions by her side. Although Dan comes to bunk at Grandma's, he and Kate take an instant loathing for each other. Moreover, once in his room, Danny comes face to, er, face with a ghost names Lucius Meeks (Judge Reinhold). This phantom is the genuine article and he pesters Dan for help. It seems many years ago, Lucius was involved in a gunfight, which ended badly. Ever since, Lucius has walked the earth, unable to go on to the afterlife. IF Dan will lend him support, perhaps the past can get a do-over, one that might score the deed for Kate. This would please her and Danno, both, as their dislike may be executing a U-turn. What will be the ending for this small town in the West? Do seek this one out, family film fans. Although made on a smaller budget, it has its rewards three times over. The cast is nice, with Reinhold, Downs, Kavovit and the rest very pleasurable. Then, too, the Wild West setting is fun while costumes, script, and direction work together for good results. Remember contented cows? This one is made to foster contented coach potatoes!

Not as Bad as everyone is made to believe

[Scaramouche2004 · 7/10 · 1 July 2008]

This film has some pretty bad reviews, and on the whole you can see why. It was shot on what must have been an extremely low budget, a cast largely made up of relatively unknown and extreme little league actors and a screenplay so full of holes you could fill it with water and use it to feed your plants. However it is not as bad as it could have been....far from it and great family entertainment can be derived here.

I am not however going to lead you up the garden path and let you all believe that this film is a masterpiece, because it's not. It is merely an entertaining story, which for a change is suitable for he whole family which is always nice to see. It contains its fair share of romance, comedy and mystery with just enough supernatural ghostliness to intrigue yet not scare the bejesus out of the little ones.

The story is taken straight from The Canterville Ghost, where the unsettled spirit of a character from history walks the earth searching for eternal redemption that is held in the hands of his modern day descendant.

However to spice this up and make this a little different from the aforementioned 'The Canterville Ghost' or even 'The Ghost Goes West' the action is moved to the wild west and our down trodden ghost is a gun packin', cheroot smoking, whisky sippin' outlaw, who in 1878 was responsible for the theft of the deeds to a thriving mining town, the murder of the towns founder and most influential citizen and the accidental death of the two mens shared love.

Now destined to find no peace in this world or the next he turns to his last surviving descendant a modern, streetwise biker boy named Danny, to find the lost deeds to the town, clear up the mystery of what really happened in the past and finally reunite the towns two main families who have been feuding over the issue ever since.

It is quite predictable in places and the acting leaves a lot to be desired but it is harmless fun, good for the kids and can pass an hour or two when there is nothing else on the TV.

Give it a go what have you got to lose?