MovieChat Forums > Nomads (1986) Discussion > Very odd, but fascinating ghost story

Very odd, but fascinating ghost story

posted 8 years ago by naples-884-346409
1 reply | jump to latest

There is so much so wrong with this film that I'm still surprised how much I like it.

First the good things:

-The score by Bill Conti (without the cheesy 80s songs) is very good and haunting
-The cinematography is beautiful and you see some gritty images of L.A. at night
-The performances are intense, but the actors struggle hard with material that is 'unplayable'
-The beginning has a great surprise shock and the story is a mystery
-The visual style is very cinematic, using all kind of effects to keep you interested

The bad things:

-A simple ghost story told in a ridiculously complicated way by using unbelievable characters
and mostly nonsense scenes and dialogue.
-The editing is barely coherent sometimes
.The actions of the lead character (Brosnan) don't make sense most of the time: No one would do what he does.
-The film tries to appeal to the young MTV and biker crowd and is unintentionally funny
-The whole film appears like the product of a talented, over-ambitious film student, who simply can't write

The film is a distant relative of films like "The Last Wave", "The Shining" etc., but much more crude.

Still worth seeing: It's dreamlike & something else.

[–] Wuchak (8116) a year ago

- It's not a ghost story, but rather a story of territorial evil spirits called Einwetok -- the titular "Nomads" -- who can take the form of people and drive insane anyone who notices them since they want to keep their existence secret. They tend to take the form of those who have died.
- The film isn't so much incoherent as it is artsy and respects the viewer's intelligence to figure things out, but you're right that it should've been more coherent.
- Pommier's actions sometimes don't make sense because the mischievous spirits were in the process of driving him mad.
- It's true that the Einwetok come across as walking off the set of a Mad Max flick.
- I think the movie is professionally and artistically done in the manner of the future "The Mothman Prophecies" -- which explains why Schwarzenegger convinced producers to hire the director/writer to helm "Predator" -- but there are unfortunately some kinks in the head-scratching storytelling, not to mention the film's positive elements & potential needed fleshed out more.

I like it, though; 7/10 for me.