Ghost Town (2009)

A bus full of college students stumble across an abandoned western town and realize it is haunted by the ghosts of outlaws who brutally killed the residents and now kill visitors every 13 years on Friday the 13th to become stronger.

Director:

Todor Chapkanov

Writer:

Andy Briggs

Stars:

Jessica Rose, Randy Wayne, Gil Gerard

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Rose	...	Chloe
Randy Wayne	...	Carl
Gil Gerard	...	Preacher McCready
Billy Drago	...	Reb Halland
Cian Barry	...	Dale
Joey Ansah	...	Bonesera
Annabelle Wallis	...	Serena
Elize du Toit	...	Rachel
Vlado Mihailov	...	Goodman (as Vlado Mihaylov)
Alexander Nikolov	...	Josh
Nikolai Nikolov	...	Harvey
Erbi Ago	...	Stuart
Chris Thompson	...	Bill
Todd Jensen	...	Jackson
Nick Harvey	...	Mayor

Storyline

Reb Halland, who lived in the era of Wild West, has made a deal with the devil to gain immortality along with his gang. Preacher McCready is trying to protect the small town by placing five totems around it in the shape of the pentacle. One day, a collector passes by the town and sees one of the totems pinned to the earth, and he decides to take it. When the man takes the totem out of ground, Halland and his gang arrives and starts killing everyone, then commit ritual suicide. The film moves to the present day when a group of college students, who are driving back home from another city after a debate contest, suddenly find themselves at this town. Soon, they start to be murdered one by one, and it will be up to them to find the secret of the town and destroy Halland and his gang.

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Plot Keywords:

suffocation | noose | hanging | gang of outlaws | coffin | 

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Randy Waynes character Carl is called Rain Man in the movie. It is a reference to Dustin Hoffmans autistic character in the movie Rain Man.

User Reviews

The other Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

After their bus mysteriously gets lost, a bunch of college kids find themselves trapped in a Wild West Ghost Town inhabited by evil spirits.

Not awful by any means, as these budgeted TV productions go, it has some inventive death scenes (death by gasoline vomit a personal favourite here), Billy Drago as a venomous Cowboy spirit and some canted angles used for good atmospheric impact. Hell! The blending of maths stars and jocks, which while not original, makes for an interesting group dynamic and lets the writer (Andy Briggs) set up a decent finale as the remaining youngsters try to work out a way out of hell by using brain and brawn.

Unfortunately director Todor Chapkanov seems to think that jitterycam is the way to go at every given opportunity, something which really hinders the atmosphere trying to get out. Then there is the MTV "R" US musical score/soundtrack that booms out inappropriately like proof was needed that noise does indeed annoy. While the town itself looks like some left over mock up from an American Adventure Theme Park.

Filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, it ultimately comes down to a bunch of pretty looking college kids (one of whom looks like Vin Diesel) getting killed amid angst, bullying and sexual yearnings. But like the characters in the story, the film seems stuck in a filmic purgatory, not really sure if it wants to slash, spook or yeehaw its way into our conscious. But as Syfy Channel time wasters go it just about passes muster. 4/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cidade Fantasma

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Unified Film Organization (UFO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color