Finally...a ghost story, with Emily Blunt! That counts for something right?
I have to say this film is more effective at what it sets out to do, than the movie "Occupant" I watched last night. Of interest to me was the fact that this little ghost story was executive produced by none other than George Clooney AND Steven Soderbergh. I'm really an Emily Blunt fan as well, and this little tale definitely has atmosphere and more than that to burn. What we have here is a ghost story about a road, and the horrible things that have transpired on that road repeating themselves over and over. It was kind of nice to just see a traditional ghost story...no real twists to be had here...just a decent film.
I mean there has to be a reason we never find out either of their names. Emily Blunt plays a girl and Ashton Holmes plays a guy. Emily is trying to get home for Christmas and so she is looking for a ride Delaware. She see's a posting on the campus board and then meets up with Ashton Holmes. Then they set about on their way to get her home. Ashton tries to impress Emily by taking a shortcut on route 606 (clever), and pretty soon they find themselves stranded after being involved with an accident involving another car...that just kind of vanishes. It's winter and the two get to know each other over the course of the film, but distrust is the name of the game with Emily..at least at first.
Pretty soon, we get weird stuff happening. Figures are shambling by the car. There appear to be priests just kind of walking about in groups, sort of oblivious to our protagonist's cries. And then there is the sheriff (played with menace by Martin Donovan), who just seems to be evil. The problem is, they might just be freezing to death...and food is low. The crash injured both of them, but Ashton much more so than Emily. Everytime that radio starts playing that 50's song though, watch out...Sheriff gonna getcha! Can they survive until morning, and what exactly happened here that made this road haunted to begin with? Just sit back and all will be revealed.
I really liked the chemistry between Blunt and Holmes. Because we care about them, it adds a sense of urgency to the film. They also do a good job of painting Holmes as a possible stalker. And when the wierd stuff starts happening, they have no choice but to band together to survive. The setting is appropriately creepy...cold and fogged over windows you can barely see through. The act of surviving just the cold weather itself becomes a major factor. And when we find out where all the ghosts came from, it fits together quite nicely. Urban legend by way of ghost story...nice. Production values are pretty high on this as well...the sound effects are creepy and made me jump more than a few times. Hey, I yelled out at least once...it was just too quiet and "bang"...haha loved it! :)
But even with all of that, there is something missing from the film. I just kind of feels hollow to me for some reason. The ghost story is pretty good, the effects are decent, and the dialogue between Blunt and Holmes is engaging, especially when he is trying to convince her that he's not going to hurt her. And considering "where" they are, the cell phone not working makes perfect sense. Also nice that Blunt is an engineering major and is kind of smart for that reason...so we don't just see her do these wonderful things...she has the backing to prove she can do them. The title of the story turns out to not be about the weather, but about some properties of the ghosts themselves. They kind of take liberty with what a ghost can do, almost giving them powers...some people might be turned off by that.
All in all, this is an above average ghost story, with nice production, and pretty good acting all around. It's not a perfect movie by any means, but the explanation behind what is going on makes sense within the framework of the story, so I can't be that harsh on it. If you are looking for a ghost story that takes place on a frozen winter road, then you could do far worse than watch this film. So take a ride down route 606, and you might just find the sheriff waiting for ya.
7.5 out of 10
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