Welcome to ‘Review Rewind’, where I review older films (at least 10 years older than the year we are in) that I have either seen before or watching for the first time.
For October/31 Days Of Horror I will be doing relaxed reviews/mini reviews for the films I’ll be watching and the theme for the month with ‘Review Rewind’ is 90s horror!
90s Horror Review Movie 02
Ghost In The Machine (1993)
Much like with Brainscan (1994), Ghost In The Machine (1993) was another film I would see at the video store, the cover always intrigued me and startled me a little. I never did rent it out or see it, as I was looking for films to watch this month I saw this one pop up, I had to add it to the list and finally see it. Again like Brainscan, this one is also a technology horror film, with technology able to do all sorts of things and the results are a silly, over the top and incredibly fun film.
Where to start with what this one is about? A serial killer Karl (Ted Marcoux) who bases his victims on names in stolen address books finds a new target in Terry (Karen Allen), a customer at the computer store he works at when after making a purchase she leaves the book behind. A terrible accident leaves Karl dead, but he’s been transported into electrical waves, which makes him able to continue his killing ways using whatever tech he can use. Those around Terry start dying in strange circumstances and it’s up to her, with her son Josh (Wil Horneff) and reformed hacker Bram (Chris Mulkey) to try and stop him.
The film really is very silly, it has a lot of charm to it and some of the most creative, over the top kills this side of a Final Destination film. This was Rachel Talalay’s directorial follow up to Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), it may be just as silly as that film, but it certainly works a lot better and Talalay showed her unique style here well and I do wish she made more films. Whilst she has become a prolific television director, I do want to see another horror film from her. There are aspects of the film that make no sense, the serial killer has access to a lot of things (a microwave, crash test cars, the list goes on) and it is funny to think about what people thought possible in the 90s. It’s over the top, inventive and manages to make the most of the budget to have gruesome gore and for the time decent CGI to balance it all out.
The cast are a mixed bag, Karen Allen is the stand out as the single mother being targeted by a serial killer. She brings a lot of warmth to the character, which I appreciated and the chemistry she shares between Chris Mulkey was great, they definitely needed more scenes together. Speaking of Mulkey, he’s the other stand out here, his quirky hacker type worked for the tone of the film and even when things get over the top he makes it work. The rest of the cast are a mixture of all sorts, some play it off very campy and others maybe didn’t do enough. At the end of the day I found this to be a very fun watch, it’s so silly and goofy but it is a blast. Have a horror tech day with Ghost In The Machine, Brainscan and The Lawnmower Man (1992).
RATING
Review written by Marcella Papandrea (Super Marcey)
The Super Network 