Ghost Son (2006)

Director:

Lamberto Bava

Writers:

Lamberto Bava (screenplay)
Lamberto Bava (story)

Release Date:

2006 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A widowed newlywed stays on her deceased husband's South African farm, then bears a child who seems to be possessed by the dead man.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Ghost | Bath

Cast

Laura Harring	...	Stacey
John Hannah	...	Mark
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Doc
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni	...	Beth
Mosa Kaiser	...	Thandi
Laura Susanne Ruedeberg	...	Paediatrician
Jake David Matthewson	...	Martin
Mary Twala	...	Leleti
Vanessa Cooke	...	Gynecologist
Jeremiah Ndlovu	...	Bongani

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Italy | South Africa | Spain | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (2006) | USA:Not Rated | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company:

Camarote Films

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mark dies in the vehicle accident his eyes are shown open but after the camera angle changes his eyes are closed.

Look who has returned to the horror-scene...

Now this, I really consider to be Lamberto Bava's international comeback-movie (instead of his previous lower budget effort, THE TORTURER, in 2005). You gotta hand it to the man: Coming back to the theatrical world of horror with an Italian/South African/Spanish/British co-production. And you know what? To my utmost surprise, it's even pretty decent (I saw this one before I saw THE TORTURER later this week, so you can imagine how unpleasant a surprise the latter was….). It's even hard to believe that GHOST SON and THE TORTURER were both directed by the very same director.

GHOST SON looks great! The cinematography looks astonishing. And Bava really took the time to direct this one. And he clearly had a very comfortable budget to work with (it always helps to have the money to afford a capable and talented crew). Almost every shot in this movie has movement (travel-shots, letting the camera slowly and stylishly turn around the actors, crane shots,….). It was a lust for the eye to see Bava finally being able to show his more technical directing skills again.

The story, on the other hand is a hit and miss deal again. I liked the fact that Bava is giving us a different take on your average ghost story. But while the movie manages to be effectively scary at some points, it also had quite some ridiculous, but highly entertaining events in it (a baby with a boner biting his mother's boobie????). Nevertheless, these events, to me, were extremely fun to watch (still too bad they damaged the over-all 'seriousness' of this movie a bit, though).

All-in-all, Ghost Son is a slow mover, but story-wise it did managed to keep my interest because I wanted to know to where it would all lead to, eventually (just don't expect any exciting twists or surprising conclusion to it because the denouement isn't exactly a spectacular climax). In a world filled with horror-movies containing derivative surprise-twists at the end, Ghost Son manages to simply avoid that trap. Rather rare these days, I'd say. But it was really the more than decent cinematography and Bava's skill-full directing that kept my going through this movie. Well, it even has more merits, of course. Like the good acting by Laura Harring and the adequate musical score. Not to forget Pete Postlethwaite's noticeable presence in this one.

I'm fully aware of the fact that a lot of people might not like this one as much as I did. Some people even might say THE TORTURER is a better movie. I say: Don't believe them, because it's not... but that's totally up to you, of course.