An indie horror film with cheesy special effects, is actually a very ambitious indie horror/spiritual thriller, in which a man wakes up dead (gotta love it) and is suddenly on the run from evil forces trying to get his soul before he reunites with his body.
Along the way he finds out there are many other "lost souls" traveling the earth, in which only certain ones can see each other. And how you have lived your life - how much "bad karma" you have collected through your misdeeds - affects your ability to remember what you have done, who you are, where you need to go, where your body might be laid...
Our hero, eventually revealed to be one "Chris Sendak", has memory flashes as he puts his past life - and what happened to him - together, as we do, while being chased down by evil forces, rendered in rather fake-looking Lightstorm FX, but we certainly get the point. He keeps company with other lost souls, like drunks, hookers, a homeless guy in a bar, etc.
How did he end up dead? Where's his body buried, and who buried it?
This is a view of the afterlife we haven't seen in movies before.
Director Weidner intercuts past and present very well, and the pieces come together eventually. He has a tendency to let scenes go on too long, but usually for side characters that have things to say, and he'd rather make his points (...lots of them), then cut this down to a more "commercial" thriller.
The film starts out with a bang, has good acting, and realistically portrays the lead (Jonathan Floyd) as truly confused, worried, and searching. Blue glowing lights to signify the "SpiritHunter" cheapens the proceedings, and his powers and motivations are never really spelled out to make much sense. But it's a ride worth taking, because this film has a lot more on its mind than just being a horror film. The lead character is forced to think about the choices he made in his life, and is given a very nice and satisfying opportunity to make things "right" at the end.
Most horror indie films are gore-fests. This one is really a cut above.
Along the way he finds out there are many other "lost souls" traveling the earth, in which only certain ones can see each other. And how you have lived your life - how much "bad karma" you have collected through your misdeeds - affects your ability to remember what you have done, who you are, where you need to go, where your body might be laid...
Our hero, eventually revealed to be one "Chris Sendak", has memory flashes as he puts his past life - and what happened to him - together, as we do, while being chased down by evil forces, rendered in rather fake-looking Lightstorm FX, but we certainly get the point. He keeps company with other lost souls, like drunks, hookers, a homeless guy in a bar, etc.
How did he end up dead? Where's his body buried, and who buried it?
This is a view of the afterlife we haven't seen in movies before.
Director Weidner intercuts past and present very well, and the pieces come together eventually. He has a tendency to let scenes go on too long, but usually for side characters that have things to say, and he'd rather make his points (...lots of them), then cut this down to a more "commercial" thriller.
The film starts out with a bang, has good acting, and realistically portrays the lead (Jonathan Floyd) as truly confused, worried, and searching. Blue glowing lights to signify the "SpiritHunter" cheapens the proceedings, and his powers and motivations are never really spelled out to make much sense. But it's a ride worth taking, because this film has a lot more on its mind than just being a horror film. The lead character is forced to think about the choices he made in his life, and is given a very nice and satisfying opportunity to make things "right" at the end.
Most horror indie films are gore-fests. This one is really a cut above.
