An American Ghost Story (C+)

Originally known as "Revenant," An American Ghost Story is a movie about a writer, Paul (played by Stephen Twardokus, also the film's writer, producer, and editor) who rents a purportedly haunted house so he can experience the paranormal in a twisted attempt at research for his next book.

After living in the house for a little while with his girlfriend, Stella (played by Leisel Kopp), things start to go bump in the night. Following a particularly frightening experience, Stella decides she can't live there anymore. She moves out, leaving Paul alone with whatever is inhabiting the place. He experiences a number of disturbances, but none of them are quite what Paul's looking for.

When his landlord Skip (played by Jon Gale) drops by to collect the rent, Paul asks him about how he came to own the place, about the purported haunting, and the home's previous tenants. Skip isn't real helpful, but seems to be more of a believer than he lets on.

Seeking validation, Paul attempts to contact the previous tenants, including the last tenant, Sue (played by Wendy Haines). Though she refuses to speak with him, she eventually contacts him and gives her account of what living in the house was like. Paul attempts to capture ghostly messages on a tape recorder (EVP! An old classic!) but has no luck. Just when he's about to give up, everything goes ape and the movie reaches its conclusion.

The acting in An American Ghost Story isn't the best I've ever seen, but it certainly isn't the worst. While all the actors have their moments, there's still a good bit that feels forced or rehearsed. Despite this, the movie's atmosphere is genuinely creepy, and it keeps that feeling going for nearly the entire length of the film. There were a number of instances of paranormal action that were very well done, especially considering the movie's estimated budget of just $10,000.

I'm going to have serious nightmares about this nun.

As is often the case with these sorts of stories, the film's finale was a bit of a disappointment. Due to the competent way the movie's scares are delivered, I was really hoping for more than I ended up getting. Despite this, the very last scene was pretty clever, in my opinion, and I had to chuckle.

I think An American Ghost Story is worth seeing if you enjoy movies about haunted houses and ghosts. You may roll your eyes when things get exciting at the end, but the growing unease that the movie creates as it plods along is worth experiencing. I oftentimes feel that big budget films lose something, especially when a director tries to squeeze every penny's worth out of his proverbial wallet. If adapted to a much pricier budget, I'm not sure An American Ghost Story would show as well or as earnestly as it does.

Giving it the old college try is totally up to you, dear reader, but I don't feel like my time was wasted in watching it.