Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Ghost Stories'

Written by Scott Edwards

(Martin Freeman as Mike Priddle in Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman’s GHOST STORIES. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight release.)

It has been long debated about whether or not ghosts actually exist and it will continue to be debated in the future, because let’s be honest here, we all want to know what happens after we die. The thought of just becoming nothingness does not sit well with many people, but on the opposite side of this, would it just get boring if you became a ghost and were trapped in one location for the rest of eternity? I will leave that up to you and while I have had a few supernatural encounters over my years, not being able to get the physical evidence always leaves my friends believing that I dreamed the entire thing. As a believer, all I can say to the skeptics is to at least try to keep an open mind when listening to these stories, because you never know what was a dream or what is really happening all around you.
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Being taught at a young age that if you cannot see it, touch it or prove that it is real, it is not, Professor Phillip Goodman has taken these values and made them into a career. Becoming one of the biggest debunkers in the industry, he is shocked after receiving a tape from an old psychic who is lying on his death bed. Accepting the invitation of Charles Cameron, Phillip is given three case files that Charles wants him to debunk about ghost sightings. Knowing that this will be an easy task to complete, Phillip has no idea what he is getting himself into.

Meeting with his first subject, Tony Matthews, Phillip has a hard time getting the former night watchman to open up about his experience, much less about his life. Offering a little extra in his payment to find out more about the man, Phillip finds out that he is a single father with a daughter who has a terrible medical condition. Trying to stay on track and getting Tony to open up about the old abandoned asylum he used to work at, Phillip is taken into the darkened hallways and finds out that the walls can speak and have something life changing to say. Chalking this story up to a man who is down on his luck with many issues, Phillip is not willing to accept that there could be a ghost present, but that this is all the result of Tony’s need to break out of the funk he has been in.

Moving on to young Simon Rifkind’s house, Phillip is welcomed in, but there is something a little off about the house from the start. Without even being welcomed into the house by Simon’s parents, Phillip gets to be privy to a ghostly encounter that has shaken the young man so deeply; it has taken a physical toll on him. Listening to Simon’s story about being out late in his father’s car and not paying attention to the road, Phillip is intrigued and heads out to find the spot where the encounter took place. Seeing what the young man saw, Phillip comes to the conclusion that the mind will see what it wants to see and once again that there is no ghost, just an overactive imagination.

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​With two files down, Phillip moves on to the Mike Priddle file and finds a well to do man who is more than willing to tell his story while getting ready to hunt. Listening to Mike talk about how he and his wife waited until they were well off to have their first child and how she got sick while pregnant, Phillip hears that Mike actually saw something get moved for no reason in his house. As Mike believes that it is some sort of poltergeist activity, Phillip gets shut down when trying to explain that there is no such thing.  Listening on about what changed Mike’s life one night when he was alone in the house, Phillip is not able to try and counter as Mike has his sights set on just one thing.
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Witnessing something that nobody ever should, Phillip returns to Charles to try and find out what the old man is trying to prove to him. Not wanting to believe that the supernatural is real at all, Phillip is given a shock when he discovers that the old dying man is not who he appeared to be. With the mind believing what it wants, Phillip is given the chance to look back on a childhood memory that made him who he is today. Not being able to fight off the supernatural forces at play, it may be time that Phillip admits that he is wrong and accept that ghosts do exist, but not the way most people want to see them.

It is actually kind of disappointing that there are not more anthology movies out there right now. I love how the three ghost stories are all brought together in the end, in a manner that I did not see coming. The stories that the characters are telling are shown in wonderful detail on the screen, but I believe that the buildup to these stories was top notch, especially when the characters do not want to relive the memories. Coming to select cinemas and being released on VOD by IFC Midnight on April 20th, this might be a good movie to turn on and wonder if there really is something that goes bump in the night. While you may never be able to change other people’s minds when it comes to something they firmly believe in, if you are willing to go in with an open mind, you may find that there is much more going on than any of us can imagine. Stay Scared.

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