Trends in the movie industry move as fast as the speed of light. One movie is released and suddenly it becomes a hit among the audiences, only for other filmmakers to capitalize on the scenario by releasing clones of the original blockbuster hit in order to earn some quick cash. The filmmakers who had similar plots that they wanted to work on would finally get the funding they needed. Jaws gave rise to numerous “animal attack” films in the later part of the 1970s. X Men and Spiderman started the sequence of superhero movies which is still prevalent today. Paranormal Activity is another movie that changed the course of the industry. It resurrected the haunted house tales and turned them into mainstream horror.
One movie that was heavily inspired by the success of Paranormal Activity is Ghostline (2015). While it’s not a found footage movie, it borrowed quite a few elements of the daunting narrative. Tyler Jantzen (Zack Gold) had a relative who passed away and he subsequently inherited a southern California house. For two years, he and his girlfriend, Chelsea Watkins (Rachel Alig) planned on moving into the house. They figured they would go ahead and flip it after the housing market picked up. Shortly after setting up the landline, they got a call from a woman who claimed that Tyler was her ex-boyfriend Eric. Ellen (Andrea Bensussen) was her name. Soon after, these calls were incorporated into haunting and gruesome acts.
What Ghostline focused on were the ghastly events surrounding the house. That’s where the Paranormal Activity inspiration stems from. The events were easily the most interesting. To begin with, there were unexplained noises in a completely dark and empty house. Objects started moving and began appearing to open and close of their own accord. As the movie continues, the ghostly figure attempts to cause physical harm to the primary characters. Everything in this movie has a similar structure to the previous one. The only difference is what changes is the violence inflicted. Instead of found footage, it is displayed in a typical narrative format.
There was an episodic nature to Ghostline that didn’t always work for the movie, and many movies dealing with supernatural forces in a house tend to have a similar style, although some try to mask this narrative structure with fluidity. Elsewhere, movies deal with it by giving the viewer a portion of the story presented in defined chapter breaks. Ghostline blended the two approaches by stopping short of giving specific chapter titles and opting for a black screen in place of switching segments. That barely makes any sense. The method is awkward because it slices the film’s continuity without any justification. Most movies that use a buffer like that, be it in the form of timestamps or real chapter titles, are certainly marking the different segments. It seems like a break that would be where a commercial during a TV airing would fit.
After analyzing, I did not find the story bad. I believe fragmented chapter breaks hinder the storyline. The plot in itself was an escalator account of surreal occurrences, much like a majority of haunted house movies. They did something to stop them. The nature of the events kept worsening. Somewhere along the timeline, they decided to seek help. Their friends, along with some self-proclaimed experts were convinced to assist and take the matter into their own hands. It’s a generic modern-day haunted house tale. It gets the job done. In regard to this, it was story that was easy to sit through.
Ghostline is like a movie that has no right to exist and resembles the work of a college student. The overall style was substandard as it was free of any creative elements. Additionally, the acting was bland. It seemed like everyone was a novice to the movie world. And while they were not, they appeared to be merely going through the motions in what would be their very first film. The actors did their roles but looked like they just stepped out of the realm of mediocrity. Unfortunately, their performances, along with the rest of the creative work, lacked control. I suppose that goes back to the direction. There was zero imagination to get any spectacular gems. It was just crafted for the sake of crafting with no intention behind it.
Ghostline is a movie that can be watched and easily forgotten shortly after. There is no element present that can make it easy to remember. Its only flaw is the absence of creativity. Rather, the creators fail to comprehend where creativity stems from. Unfortunately, it is a work of art that has no intent behind it. Ghostline is the epitome of mediocrity, something that may grab attention briefly but will fail to keep it. Ghostline is a piece that is created for the sake of creating, rather than focusing on art or entertainment. Ghostline exists, and has no essence to it, let alone having it being important. Ghostline is one such film.
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