Another stinker to add to the “WTF?!” pile.
As far as horrors go, this is in a class of its own, as it did indeed have some horror, but nothing worth bothering about, after you get bored to tears with the story, such as it was. The direction was pretty bad by most standards, and even with a shoddy script like this clearly had, there was enough to work with to get something watchable, yet we were given this dreck instead. But the word “inept,” could be applied to almost every facet of this film, except the acting, as the main four cast-members, Taylor Cole, Ryan Donowho, Toby Hemingway and Rumer Willis, did a decent job, especially when you consider what they were working with.
- The Ganzfeld Haunting
- Directed by
Michael Oblowitz - Cast
Taylor Cole, Ryan Donowho, Toby Hemingway, Rumer Willis - Release Date
18 February 2014 - Ed’s Grade: F+
I also wasn’t crazy about the cinematography, but it did its job and was serviceable, however, aside from poor direction, the editing was noticeably bad, and apparently needed three editors to get it in that state, but these were seasoned professionals, who may have been called in to do a bit of restoration, as I’m at a loss as to explain it otherwise.
Then we have the sound, which was, I think, messed with by too many people, and leaving the ‘echo’ effect on like that for the entire second half of the film was a very bad call. This may have been some sort of mistake, but if it was supposed to be the audience hearing through the drugged character’s heads, then it was just one more failure.
The Ganzfeld Haunting is about a group of students doing an experiment to see if they can make images appear on a screen using ESP, and it begins to work which freaks them out. Two of the characters had been getting high before they began, but after some initial success with the experiment, they all join in and take enormous amounts of cocaine (looking to have been supplied by Pablo Escobar or Tony Montana) and drink several bottles of whisky, plus the occasional joint, to get totally out of their skulls, which they succeed in doing, but then a ghost appears making them take even more.
Egged on by one of the boys who’s filming them, the two girls strip off and get it on with each other, which serves absolutely no purpose other than some unneeded distraction and a juicy clip for the trailer, but are eventually frightened into stopping when the ghost appears again. Eventually, secrets are uncovered which don’t amount to much as it’s all pretty much revealed before the first act is finished, and leads to a bloody end.
Being a red-blooded male, I was cool with the girl on girl thing, especially with the actresses partaking in said act, but it went on for ages and had nothing whatsoever to do with the film, and felt like a bit of indulgence by whoever was paying the bills on this gig, but won’t be looked back on fondly by the participants. Maybe if you can get into experimental cinema, which is admittedly beyond my comprehension, you may find something to like about this train-wreck, but if you’re looking to watch a basic horror-film, avoid this one like the bubonic plague.
Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
