Ghost Stories has a generic title which is criminal as it's story is original. It's a horror anthology film, probably the best I've seen in a while. It hasn't topped VHS2 (for me, anyway) but Ghost Stories is still worth your time.
Original? Sure. Ghost Stories still has its share of jump scares and musical stings, but the three different stories all have their own style and switching between them keeps you on your toes. The colour blue features heavily in the first story, pulling the camera far back so the man being haunted appears trapped, and there's an excellent eye trick involving a bed and a broom; the second story is somewhat comedic featuring the colour red and many close ups of a nervous young man trapped in the woods, and the third story is drenched in green and has (spoilers) the best jump scare I've seen in a while. The movie ends with a surprise I won't spoil here, but it ties the film together in a radical way. I'm saying radical rather than profound; the story isn't bookended so much as it is layered (sorry, I know this is vague language, but you know, spoilers). Ghost Stories isn't perfect, of course. There are some dangling plot threads, like the protagonist's father in the home, the court case at the beginning of the movie involving the psychic, and I'd love to know what happened to the rest of the protagonist's family, namely the sister.
Ghost Stories is original but not wildly so; as all movies invariably age and become dated, Ghost Stories' title won't do the film any favours in fighting off the onslaught of time. However, the film delivers a message I like: inaction is just as deadly as action. If you disengage with the world, allow weaknesses like fear to stop you from acting, and/or misuse your time, you can't claim innocence. This film shows that there is a place in Hell for inaction.
Original? Sure. Ghost Stories still has its share of jump scares and musical stings, but the three different stories all have their own style and switching between them keeps you on your toes. The colour blue features heavily in the first story, pulling the camera far back so the man being haunted appears trapped, and there's an excellent eye trick involving a bed and a broom; the second story is somewhat comedic featuring the colour red and many close ups of a nervous young man trapped in the woods, and the third story is drenched in green and has (spoilers) the best jump scare I've seen in a while. The movie ends with a surprise I won't spoil here, but it ties the film together in a radical way. I'm saying radical rather than profound; the story isn't bookended so much as it is layered (sorry, I know this is vague language, but you know, spoilers). Ghost Stories isn't perfect, of course. There are some dangling plot threads, like the protagonist's father in the home, the court case at the beginning of the movie involving the psychic, and I'd love to know what happened to the rest of the protagonist's family, namely the sister.
Ghost Stories is original but not wildly so; as all movies invariably age and become dated, Ghost Stories' title won't do the film any favours in fighting off the onslaught of time. However, the film delivers a message I like: inaction is just as deadly as action. If you disengage with the world, allow weaknesses like fear to stop you from acting, and/or misuse your time, you can't claim innocence. This film shows that there is a place in Hell for inaction.