Ghost in the Graveyard
Austen Pond
Shiloh Verrico as Martha, the titular Ghost in the Graveyard
The small town of Mt. Moriah has a dark secret. Sally Sullivan (Kelli Burgland) who returns home with a new baby after nine months away knows a little, while also carrying the secret of her whereabouts during her time away. Her dad Charlie (Jake Busey) and the local Sheriff (Royce Johnson) know a lot more but they’re not sharing much.
You see, ten years ago a children’s game of hide and seek in a cemetery took a tragic turn when Sally’s friend Martha (Shiloh Verrico) was murdered and sacrificed by witches conducting a ritual nearby. Since then Martha has haunted Sally and the rest of the gang as the titular Ghost.
Secrets are a major driver of the story and the search for answers by Sally is mostly compelling and good creepy atmosphere keeps the tension high. Some horror troupes are to be found here of course and comparisons my be drawn to several other horror and thriller films including the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot but there’s a fair amount of uniqueness here as well, in particular a reveal in the last act about the true nature and history of the Sullivan family.
There are good performances by all the major players here and great production value helped along by the use of drone photography (remember when helicopter shots were expensive?) and ghost makeup that serves its ghostly purpose well.
A few loose ends and unanswered questions that left us scratching our heads and a slight bit too much troupieness keep Ghost in the Graveyard from being as good as it could have been but is overall a well worth seeing, solid effort by first time writer/director (Charlie Comparetto). We look forward to seeing what he conjures up next.
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Ghost in the Graveyard will be released on November 5th on digital platforms including Amazon, Hoopla, Vimeo on Demand, and FANDANGO and on DVD December 3rd
(Full spolier We Watch Movies audio review will be released on November 5th as well)
Thanks to DARKCOAST for providing an early access screening to make this review possible.