Ghost Team One (2013) - The Good, the Bad and the Cleverly Under-appreciated
Synopsis: Comedy/Horror movie shot in the home camera-documentary style about two friends, their battle for the same girl and the hilarious exploits in trying to capture the haunting of their house by an Asian Madame from the turn of the century.
The Good: While this film is over-the-top in its sexual tropes, there is a lot of clever humor and fun to be had here if you allow yourself to enjoy the characters. The filming concept is basically a play on the Paranormal Activity schematic... house is haunted, document it by using a video camera and by setting other cameras up around the house. This is simply the borrowed device used to capture the film in a tongue-in-cheek way, it isn't what the movie is about. I think that concept has been lost on some of the other reviewers here. If you are looking for something scary, this isn't the movie to watch. This is about the characters and the ensuing hilarity involving a ghost that is driven to manifestation by sexual activity. If you can get past that concept, you might have a good time with this one. I found the characters fresh and very funny, for the most part. Tony Cavalero steals the show as Chuck, the former drug addict who is currently in a lengthy period of sobriety and because of it, he is very unbalanced and irrational. His possession scenes at the end are hilarious (as long as you can get past the Asian stereotypes). The movie succeeds because the characters are relate-able and how they interact while thrust into a crazy situation amidst fawning over a girl is fun to watch unfold.
The Bad: Some of the humor is definitely groan-worthy, I admit. The concept is built on this uber-sexualized premise of two horny guys and a prostitute ghost, so of course the language and category of jokes are going to be somewhat low-brow in nature. If you can't handle that, this is one that is best passed by... although I feel it would be a mistake to dismiss this movie on that premise alone. There are elements of the movie that don't feel that fresh either. Even from a comedy/horror standpoint, this parody of Paranormal Activity has been done a few times, so the concept is one that is starting to get old. The characters save this particular submission to the movie-watching world, but that doesn't keep it from feeling a bit stale at certain times.
The Cleverly Under-appreciated: Especially on IMDb, the reviews have been pretty brutal. As of right now, the overall rating is under 5.0 and I am not sure I get that. Maybe people are expecting a straight-up scary movie here? If so, maybe you need to learn a bit more about a movie before you watch it. Or maybe the concept went right over your head? Who knows. All I know is that I thought this movie was perversely clever at times and to me, it's being a bit under-appreciated. This isn't the type of movie for everyone... and I get that, but when Scary Movie is rolling with a 6.2 rating and this has a 4.8, I'm not sure I can wrap my head around that. The characters here are far more like-able and the style and execution is much fresher than a movie full of cringe-worthy gag humor. This movie's success for me is built on character interaction and script management. Both were pretty darn good for a low-budget comedy-horror. And this relatively unknown cast made me do something Scary Movie never did.... laugh.
Synopsis: Comedy/Horror movie shot in the home camera-documentary style about two friends, their battle for the same girl and the hilarious exploits in trying to capture the haunting of their house by an Asian Madame from the turn of the century.
The Good: While this film is over-the-top in its sexual tropes, there is a lot of clever humor and fun to be had here if you allow yourself to enjoy the characters. The filming concept is basically a play on the Paranormal Activity schematic... house is haunted, document it by using a video camera and by setting other cameras up around the house. This is simply the borrowed device used to capture the film in a tongue-in-cheek way, it isn't what the movie is about. I think that concept has been lost on some of the other reviewers here. If you are looking for something scary, this isn't the movie to watch. This is about the characters and the ensuing hilarity involving a ghost that is driven to manifestation by sexual activity. If you can get past that concept, you might have a good time with this one. I found the characters fresh and very funny, for the most part. Tony Cavalero steals the show as Chuck, the former drug addict who is currently in a lengthy period of sobriety and because of it, he is very unbalanced and irrational. His possession scenes at the end are hilarious (as long as you can get past the Asian stereotypes). The movie succeeds because the characters are relate-able and how they interact while thrust into a crazy situation amidst fawning over a girl is fun to watch unfold.
The Bad: Some of the humor is definitely groan-worthy, I admit. The concept is built on this uber-sexualized premise of two horny guys and a prostitute ghost, so of course the language and category of jokes are going to be somewhat low-brow in nature. If you can't handle that, this is one that is best passed by... although I feel it would be a mistake to dismiss this movie on that premise alone. There are elements of the movie that don't feel that fresh either. Even from a comedy/horror standpoint, this parody of Paranormal Activity has been done a few times, so the concept is one that is starting to get old. The characters save this particular submission to the movie-watching world, but that doesn't keep it from feeling a bit stale at certain times.
The Cleverly Under-appreciated: Especially on IMDb, the reviews have been pretty brutal. As of right now, the overall rating is under 5.0 and I am not sure I get that. Maybe people are expecting a straight-up scary movie here? If so, maybe you need to learn a bit more about a movie before you watch it. Or maybe the concept went right over your head? Who knows. All I know is that I thought this movie was perversely clever at times and to me, it's being a bit under-appreciated. This isn't the type of movie for everyone... and I get that, but when Scary Movie is rolling with a 6.2 rating and this has a 4.8, I'm not sure I can wrap my head around that. The characters here are far more like-able and the style and execution is much fresher than a movie full of cringe-worthy gag humor. This movie's success for me is built on character interaction and script management. Both were pretty darn good for a low-budget comedy-horror. And this relatively unknown cast made me do something Scary Movie never did.... laugh.