I Am A Ghost

I AM A GHOST
Writer/Director:H.P. Mendoza
Starring:Anna Ishida
Availability:DVD can be purchased at www.iamaghost.com or www.amazon.com
Rating:

    It's time to get personal for a second.  Now, I've been an atheist for about as long as I can remember.  I just find the whole idea of organized religion to be preposterous and borderline insane.  However, every now and then, I've found myself drawn to the idea of the supernatural and the possibility of ghosts.  This goes against everything I believe in.  If there is no afterlife, there can be no ghosts, right?  Maybe I'm just in love with the idea that there are ghosts around us.  It's simultaneously creepy and exciting.  However, in the end, I know that logic must prevail, and I will have to come to terms with the boring reality that when we die, that's it.  *sigh*  Now on to the review.

    This is an odd little gem that offers a refreshingly original take on a familiar premise.  H.P. Mendoza is not a director I was familiar with before this.  I saw the trailer for this film quite some time ago, and thought it looked fantastic.  I love ghost stories, especially ones that have such a classical feel.  There have been a good handful of excellent ghost stories being made lately.  James Wan's The Conjuring and Insidious, Ti West's The Innkeepers, and Vincenzo Natali's Haunter are all excellent examples that prove the power of a great ghost story.

    I Am A Ghost is a much different film than the ones I mentioned before.  It's a much more intimate affair.  It takes place almost entirely in one room, and the main character, played beautifully by Anna Ishida, is the only actor we see on screen for almost the entire duration of the film's 76 minute run time.  Ishida plays Emily, a wandering spirit who seems perpetually trapped inside the very home she once lived.  She hears the voice of a woman claiming to be a clairvoyant hired by the owners of the house to get rid of Emily's ghost.  She informs Emily that she is not to leave until they can uncover what it will take for Emily to be able to move on.  So, essentially they end up building a patient/therapist bond with one another.  Eventually, secrets are discovered about Emily's past that may prove more disturbing than anything they imagined.

    Movies that take place from a ghost's perspective are nothing new.  The Others did it.  Last year's Haunter did it.  Still, the almost avant-garde nature of this movie really made it stand apart from the pack.  It feels like a chamber piece about coming to grips with our own mortality.  There are flashes of surreal imagery sprinkled all throughout the film, becoming much more prominent in the later moments of the film.  I don't want to spoil anything here, but the conclusion does have some nice twists and turns that took me a bit off guard.

    The thing about I Am A Ghost that makes it a hard sell is that it's an easier film to admire than it is to like.  It is very much a slow burn, and uses a lot of repetition to give us a better understanding at the confusion that plagues Emily, going through the same routine day by day, never remembering the events that had transpired the day before.  However, if you have a taste for true arthouse horror, and love indie cinema that's different, occasionally beautifully, and deeply haunting, definitely give this one a chance.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, and would love to see what Mendoza comes up with next, because it's clear that he's an artist.

    Why aren't there more people doing these offbeat, moody horror flicks anymore?  Films like Messiah Of Evil, Lemora, Valerie and Her Week Of Wonders...I miss films like this.  I Am A Ghost doesn't quite reach the heights of those classics, but I have a feeling Mendoza has a real masterpiece in him, and I'll be following his work for sure.

    Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...