Ghosts of War (2020) User Reviews

Showed so much promise.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 6 November 2020]

Very much a film of two halves, a very good first half, and a pretty awful second half.

Early on, I loved the atmosphere, the implied threat, and the build up, it had a really eerie, uncomfortable feeling, and then.... The Soldiers take out a German platoon, and it all goes to pot. They took a really interesting ghost story, and stripped away its identity, a real shame, it was leading somewhere.

The clues were there, and at some point didn't somebody mention horror movies?

I applaud them for trying something different, had they stuck to the original course, it would have been an 8, you got to see how some o the soldiers behaved, and the harrowing events they must have witnessed.

Good at the start, shocking at the end, still worth a look, 6/10.

Perfectly watchable, people are always too hard.

[jez-17594 · 7/10 · 20 July 2020]

I really don't know what people think they're entitled to see every time they choose a movie. Whoever was responsible for this movie gave it their best shot. Great care was clearly taken in the photography and set design. A story that's a little different with actors who give it their all. Give it a break.

So close, yet so far

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 6/10 · 19 July 2020]

Beautifully shot with great cinematography, but the story gradually disappoints because its thematic ambitions add more clutter than depth to a story that's most effective at its simplest. The convoluted "twist" either needed to be omitted, or expanded upon with another 15+ minutes. It's as if the budget ran out and everyone just wrapped it up as fast as they could with no regard for a cohesive storyline. It's a shame, because it had potential. It's a generous 6/10 from me.

What a stupid ending

[UrbanIntrovert · 4/10 · 29 July 2020]

As I started watching I just kept thinking why all the negative reviews, this is one of the best war/horror movies. Interesting premise, good acting, chilling atmosphere. I just loved it; but as the movie got to the end, it turned complete 180 & made a fool out of it's audience,the twist was just out of nowhere & completely ridiculous. It's as if the writer hated writing this movie & wanted it to fail. It would've been a fine supernatural horror movie if it stickied to what it started out with; but no, the writer had to subvert the audience expectation. He must've been thinking he was so brilliant to come up with this lame ending. God, what a disappointment, an hour and half down the toilet all because of the ending. A perfectly fine horror movie ruined because the writer had to write this stupid nonsensical ending. What a waste of time & talent.

What the heck

[travispetrillo · 6/10 · 5 August 2020]

So much promise in this film. Good acting, great setting and location, pretty much everything a quality film needs, just to fall off at the end.

Everything was looking good, the final "twist" was a little outrageous, though they lead up to it pretty well, littering little clues here and there, letting the audience know things weren't quite what they appeared. It just fell off short of any real resolution though, leaving the story open-ended.

Would have been a 8/10, but had to dock points for not properly finishing an otherwise good film.

Such a weird ending

[pjlfn · 5/10 · 18 July 2020]

This movie started ok. Good acting, good plot, good decor, even the storyline was unusual and a great new idea for a ghost movie. However, I only have one thing to say about the ending...W...T...F...!!!. Maybe I missed something, but if that ending would have been different, I would have given 9/10. Too bad !!!

It's not *that* bad

[mugwamp-983 · 6/10 · 19 July 2020]

If you like war horrors such as The Objective, Trench 11, or The Bunker you will be OK with this. Its competently acted. Actually Kyle Gallner the lead from the mini-series "Interrogation" has a major supporting role in this movie. He is a good fit as the enigmatic squad sniper and its worth watching just for him. The horror effects seem a little cheesed but there is a reason for that. The movie has a decent twist to the plot, and for that reason I urge you to stop reading the reviews and watch the movie, as people are saying too much around here.

Really?

[baunacholi-86159 · 5/10 · 14 March 2021]

(Spoiler Right ahead!) Its all just a dream - or artificial coma? A grim WWII setting and quite some cruel scenes at the start. The obligatory group of politically correct and diverse teenagers is in this case a group of soldiers. The dark country side manor replaced with a French chateau... soon things become spooky with a quite high number of jump scares. the group of 5 (soon 4) tries to solve the mystery / haunting of the family who used to own the place. But suddenly the twist appears and our WWII gang, who was actually fighting in Afghanistan & became part of a PTSD Programm, Need to fight a curse which was not at all part of the cure... so, the group is sent back to WWII. Sounds rushed and a bit confusing?... On the positive side there's an engaging cast and the Creative idea to try out new things. I'd have loved to see less ingredients/genres mixed up but pls find out yourself.

Wait for the end

[Martipee · 7/10 · 25 July 2020]

Interesting movie with a good amount of action and mystery. Good story with lots to expect but falls a bit short overall. But its the ending which is memorable for all the wrong reasons.....basically there isn't one and would benefit from someone explaining it. Not a waste of time, but definitely unsatisfactory because of this.

Intriguing start, but fizzles out completely

[Xavier_Stone · 4/10 · 17 July 2020]

The first half of this movie is actually interesting and this movie blends a WWII theme with a paranormal theme quite well. However after the initial setup has passed this movie stalls and can't seem to find out how to best continue the action or wrap up an ending. Some jump scares and a few creepy scenes but nothing overly engaging or worth noting.

Then it's almost like the director had to wrap up shooting or ran out of money as the ending is rushed and is over in maybe 5-8 mins. Eric Bress writes and directs this and is most noted for the Final Destination series and the Butterfly Effect, 10-15 years ago. Sadly he hasn't created nothing in between now and then and hasn't learned how to create a good ending yet.

Very cleverly written and well produced. Intriguing concept if you stay with it...

[lathe-of-heaven · 8/10 · 21 July 2020]

I cannot understand the low ratings here. Seriously... To me personally this is a very rarely well conceived film where you can tell a lot of thought went into it. It most certainly isn't your usual quickie slam/bang Horror film, but I feel that it is quite well written, acted, and executed. I KNOW that the ending is very divisive and about 1/2 of the people won't like it and about half (like me : ) REALLY love it!

The main thing that impressed me about this one is the clever concept and the intelligence behind it. At the beginning you may understandably think, 'Oh this is just another one of THOSE films' because of the War elements and the Supernatural overtones. BUT... it is honestly not what it seems. With so many Horror films cranked out these days and mostly of dubious quality, when one comes along that to me anyway is this clever and well done, I really enjoy it! The acting across the board was very good. The characters could have VERY easily come across as cliched stereotypes, but they truly did not at all. They were real, dimensional, believable people. I felt that the writing was definitely above average too.

This film is very intelligent, engaging, and suspenseful. It really keeps a strong grip on you all the way through and it keeps the audience guessing. And, without giving anything away (avoid Spoilers at all cost!) a great clever ending which even naysayers admit you will ***NOT*** see coming. Again, the ending WILL indeed divide people. I think what the deal is, is that if you have a super active imagination and you really like Sci Fi tinged Horror, and you don't mind imaginative 'leaps', then you will love it. But, if you are more of a practical person who prefers a more 'conventional' explanation, then this one may truly throw you. So, with that in mind, overall, this film is very well made, cleverly written, and very competently directed and acted. Even if you do not particularly love the ending or find it 'far-fetched', I think most people will appreciate all the thought and effort that went into making it.

Now this was one interesting combination of horror and war movie....

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 17 November 2020]

Well, when I sat down to watch "Ghosts of War", I must say that I wasn't particularly thrilled or excited. Why? Well, usually World War II movies and horror tend to not be an overly great combination. But still, I hadn't already seen this 2020 movie, much less actually heard about it, so of course I found the time to sit down and watch it.

And color me impressed. This movie from writer and director Eric Bress was actually rather enjoyable and entertaining. Turns out that he really had managed to come up with a concept idea that proved interesting, albeit somewhat akin to what you have in the "Assassin's Creed" franchise, but still managing to combine the elements of classic traditional horror movie and the feel of a proper World War II movie into the mixture. And let me just say that the result was good.

The storyline was rather interesting, especially because director Eric Bress manages to keep the audience in the dark throughout the entire course of the movie, speculating and guessing at what is really going on. And the twist to the story was very nicely molded into shape and brought into play.

Visually then "Ghosts of War" definitely had that traditional World War II feeling to it, and that worked very well in favor of the movie, as it just set the perfect mood throughout the movie. And needless to say that the large house, in which most of the movie played out, actually also was quite the interesting touch to the movie, adding a good setting for the horror aspect.

"Ghosts of War" has an interesting and good ensemble of cast members, with the likes of Kyle Gallner and Billy Zane to mention the most familiar faces for me.

The horror aspect to the storyline in "Ghosts of War" was adequate, but director Eric Bress does make use of a hefty amount of jump scares, which tends to grow tedious after a while. But it being a horror movie it is acceptable, just keep in mind that "Ghosts of War" is one such movie, and not a subtle horror story that creeps under your skin.

I was definitely surprised with the outcome of "Ghosts of War" and how entertaining it actually turned out to be. So I was more than genuinely impressed and entertained with what I sat through. And I both can and will warmly recommend that you sit down to watch "Ghosts of War" if you get the chance to do so.

My rating of "Ghosts of War" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Would've been a good film had the ending not ruined it

[MinistryofDoom · 5/10 · 29 July 2020]

Ghosts of War started out great. It felt like it could be the prefect combination of Band of Brothers and House on Haunted Hill. The premise is simple: U.S. World War 2 soldiers ordered to hold down a strategic location in France, which happens to be a haunted chateau where Nazi soldiers previously committed horrible crimes. I really had high hopes for this film but as it progressed those hopes diminished. The setting is great and the film relies on appropriately creepy atmospheric tension. I mean they're in a really big creepy castle full of strange occurrences. Whats not to like about that? On top of that, the main cast of soldiers were likable. I enjoyed seeing Theo Rossi, who you might recognize as Shades from Marvel Studios/Netflix' Luke Cage series. Alan Ritchson, Brenton Thwaites, and Kyle Gallner, my favorite of the group who played U.S. army sniper Tappert, where all very good.

Unfortunately....and this is a big huge deal-breaker for me, the ending did not live up to the rest of the film. This is me being nice about it. To be honest it infuriated me. It made me feel like I wasted 1hr and 34 minutes getting invested in this story which suddenly transformed into something that I was not expecting nor wanted. All they had to do is stick with the theme of WW2 soldiers stuck in a haunted house during war. That's it. How they managed to ruin the last part of this film defies logic. Someone should be fired over this horrendous decision. I want to recommend it based on how good most of the film was, but the ending completely destroyed my recommendation. Yes, it's THAT BAD.

Ghosts of War

[henry8-3 · 4/10 · 1 November 2020]

WW2 - An army unit of 5 men arrive to hold a mansion house which is apparently haunted.

This starts off like many ghost stories with some edginess, a few spooks and jumpscares which give you hope for the rest of the film. However, in looking into the causes of the haunting, the film gets increasingly complicated and eventually goes off the deep end in a completely bonkers change in direction - silly, when it started so well.

Nice build up... with a cliffhanger?

[bentitheridgese-13889 · 6/10 · 8 August 2020]

I enjoyed the movie... as I enjoy most WW2 movies/shows. It was great up until he realises theres a bug in the program, goes back in and then.... that was it... its like the writers couldn't work out what to put next and had the movie finish.

If they don't plan on a sequel, the really should have made a better ending... i'm expecting a directors cut with the extra 30-40 minutes of footage this theatrical version offered...

Good start, ending just....

[mbnn · 5/10 · 17 July 2020]

So the start of this movie was pretty good, acting very good, great story. Then suddenly it turns things around and you get to know the 'real' story. However, at the very end they just 'stop' the movie and that's it.

It could have been so much better, the ending simply ruined it completely for me.

Better than the Troll Reviews

[bryanmartin1 · 6/10 · 6 September 2020]

The wife and I watched this on Amazon Prime. While the ending could have been played out a little better, I felt like we enjoyed the movie.

Ok film - Stupid and annoying ending

[fencoll · 5/10 · 8 November 2020]

Could have been a really good horror movie and acting was good but the stupidest ending to a movie I've seen. As if the director couldn't decide how to end it so didn't even try. You might end up feeling like... WTF? Is that the ending?

PTSD is no joke!

[bennybmartinez · 7/10 · 15 December 2020]

Okay as a combat Iraq war veteran, I found myself totally understanding this movie for what is worth. The story was intense and confusing, which I like! The ending got me, loved the ending crazy I don't think that could happen BUT anything is possible I do know doctors are using Mushrooms and Psychoanalysis to help control War time Ptsd so it's not that far out.. give it try watch the movie!

It wasn't that bad

[trailerfreak · 5/10 · 19 July 2020]

Slow build up. I agree with the bad editing in the beginning. But, it wasn't that bad. Ending was unexpected. It was not a waste of time.

Many levels, very interesting!

[loeikat · 8/10 · 19 July 2020]

I enjoy how things evolve in this movie. When you think you know, maybe you don't, maybe you do. For me it's a great movie. No error in the casting, no problem with the story. On the contrary, it's well filmed, and overall very well done.

The end is the beginning

[martinsdeano · 6/10 · 12 September 2020]

Not at bad as some of the reviews made it out to be. I get the plot twist, just feels a bit rushed. Could've done without the futuristic dream simulation but worth a watch.

A war movie that doesn't know what war it's in, and a horror movie that doesn't know if it's meant to scare you or to pontificate a morality

[bronzeplayer · 2/10 · 29 November 2020]

Is this a WW2 movie or Afghanistan war movie? Is it a horror movie or a morality play? The writers should go back to the drawing board. Disjointed plot and really obtuse ending. Kinda like a peanut butter and ketchup sandwich. May the ghosts haunt the movie writers for eternity!

Complete rubbish

[marxkarl-00205 · 1/10 · 7 November 2020]

This is perhaps the most absurd and nonsensical movie I've ever watched.

Its an atmospheric little picture...

[paul_anson · 7/10 · 27 December 2020]

Its not Oscar material but it's a solid and unusual war time horror with a twist at the end; that some reviewers have not enjoyed. It held my interest as the story unfolded. The set and cinematography are great. It won't make you're all time 100 films but it's worth a watch, late at night..... Plus it's always nice to see Billy Zane popping up.