Wow! Such a good movie.

A different way of telling a story

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

How do you make a "realistic" movie about reanimation? In all honesty you can't, but you come closest by presenting characters with realistic reactions and motivations in an implausible situation. In most movies, the reaction to a loved one's unexpected return is most often horror or joy. The reaction could well be sadness and confusion. This is more subtle and thought provoking and more difficult to make interesting, but I think this film succeeds in that respect. The messages are subtle, the presentation of a well worn plot device was original, the acting was believable.If you need gore in a reanimation movie or pies in the face in a comedy, skip this movie. But if you want something to think about for a little while after the closing credits you may enjoy this.

There are a number of reviews smashing this movie-- mostly due to unmet expectations of normal Hollywood Horror. Worse, some people may be expecting it to be a modern remake on a Lovecraftian idea of a Machine that could open a gate to the 'Beyond'. If you're expecting a 'Re-animator' clone-- it's NOT. It's totally different.It's a Ghost story that really runs like a Drama. And it's bareboned. It's done ENTIRELY without special effects. The 'Creep' is in the actors' situations alone. The Ghosts are a Dramatic Question...and the Question behind ALL Ghost stories is a Fundamental one posed: "Is it RIGHT for the Dead to come back to the Living?"It's Not about whether 'The Dead Hate the Living' or 'Evil Spirits being unleashed' or 'Curses from beyond the Grave'This movie is about what happens if you refuse to Let go. What happens if you actually bring the Dead Back into your Life when the World has already closed the books on their Lives.A young man loses his parents, and seeks to undo their Deaths by bringing them back with a machine. But the World and Life really has no place or order for things that 'Should not be'. Bad things will happen.Not Supernatural Bad Things...Just Inadvertent things. Unpleasant things. Irrevocable things.As an indie/Non-Hollywood effort-- this one gets a solid round of applause from me. The acting was decent and heartfelt. And the timing was good with tension and build-up. And the ending was a solid moral stamp: You can't change What Was.This is an intelligent indie/drama flick is good for a late, rainy weekend afternoon. And if you like it...it's also a Girl-friend Test.

Where to begin...It's tremendously boring, the characters don't make any sense and have no depth AT ALL, it's LESS scary than a carton of milk on which you can't locate the expiration date. I couldn't tell if the actors were awful or their performances were awful because the script sucked so hard that they had nothing to work with. It's exceptionally inappropriate to call this a sci-fi/horror film as it's labeled on netflix. It's like calling Requiem For A Dream a romantic comedy.The only thing sci-fi about it is that there is a machine. A very uninteresting machine and the only depth given to it is that it enhances or maybe generates electromagnetic radiation because...uh ghosts or something. The only thing that was remotely horror was that the main character's house use to be occupied by a couple who owned a day care and did... something? I guess the guy murdered his wife. That story element seemed to be just randomly thrown in so they could label it a horror film. Their story is never explained and has virtually nothing to do with the plot. You are never given any reason why they should be scary. Their just a couple of creepy looking grandparents. That's it. Oh and they're only on screen for maybe all of 5 minutes.Which brings me to the thing about this film that motivated me to write this review: If this movie were only 10 or 15 minutes long I'd probably not like it but I wouldn't hate it. No, this thudingly dull movie wastes an hour, A WHOLE F^%$^%ING HOUR, before ANYTHING happens at all that starts to move the story forward.

Ghost From the Machine is an original and ultimately heartbreaking ghost story. Subtle and nuanced, the film tells the story of an afflicted young man who's bound and determined to reach and bring back his parents from 'the other side' at the expense of maintaining personal relationships. You hope he achieves his singular purpose because if not, he stands to lose a lot. After many trials and some success, he learns a difficult lesson in that no one is meant to ever come back.The film itself is a more character based film than pure horror. Sure, it has its scares and genuinely creepy moments, but it's the focus on the characters which really drives the film. When I stated that it's subtle and nuanced, I meant it is in such away that it never really force feeds you the 'why' of Cody being so single minded. You just know that he is extremely grief stricken and in some way, feels responsible for what happened. The same with our widowed tech geek. You never really know the ins and outs of his relationship with his wife. You just know that she was the love of his life. The horror elements are balanced carefully with our character driven moments and the filmmaker pulled off this balancing act exceptionally well. Had he not done so, the ending would not have packed as much of an emotional of a punch as needed. Truly not a made for Hollywood ending.Check this one out if you like more emotionally engrossing films that are thought provoking but also terrifying. It sounds like an oxymoron but this is one horror film that is truly different.