Ghost of Goodnight Lane

Director - Alin Bijan (Seduction of Innocence)
Starring - Lacey Chabert (Black X-Mas), Billy Zane (Tombstone), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "If she's still here, then it won't be quiet, not for you, not for anyone." and "The roots of evil run deep."
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      Ghosts have been the topic for horror films since the silent age.  There is just something unnerving and scary about the thought of spirits floating around us. Through the decades we have seen countless ghost flicks pop up here and there with a few of them being classic films that we watch annually.  However, the supernatural sub-genre was forever changed in 2002 with the American remake of The Ring.  Since then ghosts with stringy black hair over their faces has been all the rage.  Almost every haunting and supernatural flick has a little girl that looks like this and this is a trend that will not be stopped anytime soon.  Recently, I was sent a review copy of the supernatural flick Ghost of Goodnight Lane.  I did a Google search and found out that Billy Zane was in it.  Judge me all you want but I really enjoy watching Zane in character so I was excited to watch this film when I had the chance.
     The film follows a film production crew who are working on a Muscle Milk commercial.  However, one of the crew members is murdered one night.  The director, Alan (Zane), pep talks the crew and they decide to push on.  They call in more dancers to re-shoot a scene and they receive a surprise visit from an elderly woman who reveals to them that a young girl was murdered in that house and she was the daughter of Charles Manson.  The crew pushes on but they soon learn that they are not alone as crew members wind up missing or far worse...dead.  They quickly try to make a Scooby-Doo plan and call the old woman but is it too late?
      When I started watching this I assumed it would be what I like to call "Wal-Mart horror." Wal-Mart horror is what I like to call generic horror films with amazing, but generic, artwork and stars a rather impressive actor or actress that has fell from grace.  These films are usually sold at Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy.  My assumption was only half right.  The film was a generic horror film but by god was it a fun one.  This horror comedy didn't offer anything knew, in fact, it was something I have seen several times.  However, what set this film apart from the others was the characters and comedy.  The acting in this one was great.  I wish that most of the films I reviewed had acting this great.  The entire cast was spot on and they really made this film as fun as it was.  Billy Zane was undeniably the star of the film and he stole every scene he was in.  I would love to see him do more horror flicks in the future.  The story for this one is one told hundreds, if not thousands of times before.  An undead girl stalking the living in a creepy, atmospheric setting is one told so many times since the American remake of The Ring.  Sure, it does get boring after seeing the cliche so many times but this film makes it fun again.  This film was clearly written to poke fun at the stereotypes instead of building upon them.  Finally, the film does have some special effects that is hit or miss.  The film is able to convey a sense of dread in certain scenes that really dials up the creepy-meter but the few kills we do get are boring and lackluster that almost ruins the ghosts presence.  A little more work applied to the kill scenes would have gave this film the extra push it needed.  Overall, Ghost of Goodnight Lane is a fun supernatural flick that has laughs, beautiful women, and Billy Zane in a stupid hat.  What more do you need?