My quick rating - 3.6/10. Looks like another found footage gem. As always, I watch everything so you don't have to. If nothing else, the location of an old ghost town is interesting. Isaac Rodriguez doesn't seem to want this genre of filming to die since he just released Last Radio Call the previous year using the same handi-cam approach. He also must've just seen The Shining recently since this movie "borrows" heavily from it. I think the fact that the flick is brought to us by No Sleep Films is not some coincidence either. If the acting had been even average, the whole thing would've been at least tolerable but all the characters were truly awful. This lack of emotional involvement kept me from caring in the slightest about what happened to any of them since none of their reactions were ever believable. The setup was well filmed since it introduced a very creepy little town regardless of how much of it was a set and what was legitimate old buildings. The site for filming is J. Lorraine Ghost Town which a quick search will give you all you need to know but it still works for the story they were going for. The dilapidated buildings, ancient fences, and a bizarre maze in the center of town is such a great scenery piece. I just wish the story itself would've worked more with the surroundings. The ancient story of the town is rather suspect until a very convenient and way over-produced piece of old film is discovered explaining the whole backstory. That reel of footage either needed to be less professionally done and much harder to come by to make it work into the story. I found the found film stupid personally especially since it was supposed to be so old yet still looked so damn frightening. I was also very confused about how in the world they got the projector to run in a town with no electricity and he didn't just fire up a generator either. As I mentioned the inspiration here, so you can tell where it was going when the couple played by Andrew C. Fisher and Mandy Lee Rubio flat out bought the town for themselves to turn into a tourist attraction (check the link above since that is what actually happened there.) But when the ghosts seem to possess Mark (Fisher) his hired help and friends are no longer safe as the mystery unravels. At this point it just fell back into the lazy FF stereotype of running away and turning the handi-cam behind you, screaming, etc., etc. All the stuff that I have grown far tired of a decade ago (generous, maybe longer.) The path down Mark's loss of sanity was poorly done so it more or less just happened. No subtle clues to pick up on or clever devices used to show what was occurring, just here it is, enjoy it or don't. Entirely up to you and I fall into the I really did not get much out of it beyond the setting. Anyone who reads my stuff knows I loathe these movies typically and I give them all a fair shake. So leaning into a 4 from me is a step in the right direction.
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