MovieChat Forums > GhostWatcher (2002) Discussion > Absolute garbage!

Absolute garbage!

posted 19 years ago by the_duke-1
40 replies | jump to latest

Wow, what an awful film. This was recommended by a Blockbuster employee who was probably the director. To call the script amateurish is a compliment. It has so many holes, you can dive a truck through it. The actors (obviously friends of the director) clearly have never seen the light of an acting class. In fact, the only scary thing about this movie is the acting. I work in the entertainment industry and was checking IMDB to see who the casting director is so I could call him/her and chastise them for this abomination. But wait...there isn't a credited casting director. I've seen student films that provoke more thought than this boring tripe. Lion's Gate is known for distributing rubbish but this takes the cake. Even the "gag" reel suffers. It isn't even a gag reel. It's outtakes of untalented actors getting upset with themselves because they can't act. Thanks for sharing how unprofessional and without merit the cast and crew are! The music sounds like the blips and bleeps my Atari game system used to spit out in the 80's. The metal songs are "yarly" and dated. I will say that the film is consistent...consistent at being awful in every aspect. Thankfully, Blockbuster gave me my money back (you may not be so lucky). This film makes Battlefield Earth look like Citizen Kane. Complete utter garbage.

[–] ron-436 19 years ago

Those who can't do - review.

[–] the_duke-1 19 years ago

You're awesome!

[–] ox1982 19 years ago

hahah that review was halarious. I didn't think it was that bad, but the part where shes describing the trip by how she rolled back and fourth in the van was the worst idea ever. "we veered to the right, and then hit a pot hole so we must have been on the only road with a pothole in all of the city!"

[–] molotovman69 19 years ago

Hey, ox, "halarious" is spelled with an I, you moron. And it's "back and FORTH" not fourth. Unless it was the FOURTH time she did it. This just proves what I said on the other message board. The reason people trash movies like this is because they're too fuc*ing stupid to write something real.

[–] johnnyrico-1 19 years ago

Just because someone has difficulty in spelling, doesn't mean their opinion of a film is any less valid, or in fact, make them a moron. However, calling someone a moron generally points to that persons lack of intelligence.

[–] cabaretwoman 19 years ago

No, it does not make their opinion any less valid, but it makes others take their words a lot less seriously. I agree with you about calling people names. Rudeness is just plain pointless as well as gutless.

[–] legnadibrom 18 years ago

uh, she was talking about the interstate, how many interstates do you know of that have noticeable potholes?
ever seen the movie "sneakers" where a similar memory scene takes place?

http://www.coprophagor.com/flatmar.htm

[–] cabaretwoman 19 years ago

TO: the duke

LOL! You're a riot! I enjoyed the hell out of reading your review; it even made sitting through that ridiculous film worth my time. I can blame hubby for renting this piece of crap; my worst choices were never this bad.

I am not going to say anything more about the film here; you've said it all.

Thanks again for the review.

[–] oktobeimperfect 19 years ago

when the first movie you ever make gets picked up by lionsgate and distributed nationwide, please do let me know. im sorry that you feel so strongly about this, but it is just a movie, calm down, and grow up! some of the actors and crew read this, and such nasty hostile comments do no good. id like to see some of your own work up for review so you can see just how it feels when nincompoops tear it to shreds, with no regard for how hard you tried, or how far you may have come.

all i gotta say is "do unto others..." you know the rest.

peace.

[–] the_duke-1 19 years ago

Hmmm. Let's see. First time director Steven Spielberg made "Dual", then "Jaws". George Lucas made "THX 1138", then "Star Wars". Woody Allen did "What's Up, Tiger Lilly?", then "Take the Money and Run". I don't think I would put Mr. Cross in that same company. There's a difference between "first-timers" with talent and those who should be run out of the business. And Lions Gate would pick up a dogpile if they thought it would make them a buck. Come on people....Lions Gate.

[–] jds_actor 19 years ago

Hey duke, did David A. Cross steal your girl or something? Why all this hostility towards the man? He made one movie that you didn't care for, fine. That being said, this was literally his very first attempt at directing and writing a film. Spielberg and Lucas had a few other directoral credits under their belts before making the movies you mentioned in your post and Allen was an accomplished TV writer before making his directoral debut. Mr. Cross' first ever attempt at directing and writing a movie got him critical acclaim at various horror film festivals across the country and a DVD deal with Lions Gate. For that, he should be applauded. You may think that the film is crap, and you are entitled to that opinion. But to be fair, you should probably wait to see more of his upcoming work before deeming him worthy of being "run out of the business".

[–] oktobeimperfect 19 years ago

thank you for defending the man! it's fine to hate the movie, i just can't stand the rudeness!

[–] blue_hyper_angel 19 years ago

*agrees* i want my hour or whatever back!

[–] ox1982 19 years ago

I'm glad to see someone attacked my spelling because they couldn't attack my point. I used to be able to spell, but then I watched that movie and became mildly retarded. And yeah it's his first movie, and it was picked up by the legendary lions gate films, who also bought Ticker with Steven Seagal. But personally I think that if I filmed two dogs humping lionsgate films would purchase it, and possibly call it Ghost Watcher 2. I wanted to watch it again so that I could really give it a fair review, but I couldn't find nowhere to download it. I guess noone wanted to waste the hard drive space, they would rather have golden girl seasons in dvd.

[–] TheBurgessesandBen 19 years ago

I couldn't aggree more!!!! That was the stupidest movie i have EVER seen!!! It looked like me and my friends directed and videoed it! To sum it ALL up it STUNK!!!!

[–] jenny_grier91 19 years ago

i totally agree with!that movie was a PIECE OF CRAP!!!it looked i directed that movie!the directing was horrible and it was REALLY cheap.that was the most pathetic movie i've ever seen.more than half the stuff in there was FAKE!!!!!!that monster dude was not even scary.that movie wasnt even scary!this was just some cheap movie that luckily(and luckily being the key word here)got sold to blockbuster....what a piece of crap...

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] ox1982 19 years ago

You like to throw the point that they bought your movie and gave you a budget for another one, but you never tell us how much they paid, and how much they gave you for a budget. Your a hundredenaire now.

[–] afilms-1 19 years ago

The movie made $4 million in 3 months after the release. I'm guessing he has a little more cash now.

[–] jasonjlaw 19 years ago

Honestly,
I wasn't that bad of a movie, especialy for what it was; A B-film.
I kind of would like to know what it was filmed in, the camera used, and maybe even how much it cost to make.
I hope the film I'm trying to get of the ground looks nearly as good as this.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] kroil3 19 years ago

"Glad you find it hilarious. People read reviews, whether it be from the public or Roger Ebert. The 4.0 rating and the ranting on this board has cost you DVD and rental sales. I wouldn’t be laughing...I'd be interested in the number of rentals Blockbuster recorded for Ghostwatcher. You sure they will want to take on your next one?"

Just so you know...GhostWatcher made $4 million in rentals it's first 3 months on the shelf. With that mark it finished 15th overall for independent films in 2004. By the way, it was only out for 3 of 2004's 12 months. So, yeah, I think Blockbuster will be interested in the sequel.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] kroil3 19 years ago

The figures are absolutely true. Check them out if you want. Of course you're entitled to your opinion of any movie. If you don't like it, fine. But, don't blame the filmmakers because you were taken in by slick cover art created by the film's distributor. Filmmakers can't influence how their film gets marketed or advertised once it's been bought by a major distributor like Lions Gate. Once it's sold, the distributor does what they want with it.

In terms of "getting fooled" by advertising, there are much better targets than GhostWatcher. Anyone remember Open Water? Geez, GhostWatcher looked a hell of a lot better than that piece of crap and Open Water made like $30 million at the box office its first weekend. Remember the commercials? All that "scariest movie ever" nonsense? Whatever. At least this had a story.

[–] Moviecritic14 19 years ago

This was INDEED an awful film. I expected something scary, looked like on the back it had a great story and would give me something to think about during the night. But I did not get what I expected...instead I get a really awful movie telling the story of an internet slut trying to track down a ghost in a woman's home.

When I came to IMDB to tell of how much I hated this film you know what I got?? I got some replies from Mr. David A. Cross himself, also known as "ghostwatchermovie" on these forums.
He then emailed me, and told me that I was a *beep* or something like that, and that he was better than me because I'm 15 years old? Give me a break Mr. Cross. It's not the public's fault that your movie sucked so bad!

So now, I read that GhostWatcher 2 is coming out in October. Whoopee Mr. Cross, another crappy movie to read negative reviews for! Ooh, you must be excited! And let me ask that why in the world, he logs onto his computer to see how his crappy movie is doing?? Does Steven Spielberg log onto his computer to go onto the IMDB to check out reviews for "The Terminal"? I don't think so.

[–] thejess 19 years ago

I'm finding it difficult to understand everyone's hostility towards this film, especially against the writer/director personally. How many times must it be said -- love it or hate it, that's fine, but realize that it wasn't meant to be a ground-breaking Hollywood blockbuster. So the cover was misleading, but at least something about the premise was enticing enough for you to watch it. Maybe you were just upset because it doesn't look like every other film out there, or because the cast aren't the typical Hollywood actors. Have an open mind, people, don't take everything at face value.

I'm in college right now, I wasn't brave enough to go the route of studying film, but a good friend of mine is a film major and I was part of the crew on his first project. If he had been lucky enough to get any kind of recognition for that film, much less have it purchased by a distributor, he would be counting his blessings, and certainly wouldn't expect anyone to consider it the best film ever made. However, I'm certain he would appreciate it if people would have enough decency to be respectful. Again, hating this film is fine, but at least structure your critcisms instead of just being a complete ass and trying to provoke people.

I enjoyed this film for what it was. I thought it was very well made for the resources at hand. It's refreshing to see a film that breaks away from the norm. Looking forward to Ghost Watcher 2.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Vigilante407 19 years ago

I have to agree it was a pretty awful movie. I'm glad my wife was the one who picked it out at Hollywood Video, and even gladder that it was in the MVP section, so the rental was free. :)

Still, I'd have to give the movie a few kudos. It did have a few scenes of good lighting. And a few scenes that weren't cliched. And few films get me and the wife talking quite as much as "Ghostwatcher" did. Sure, it was usually along the lines of "Honey, did that scene make any friggin' sense to you?" or "Do you think she's dead? I mean her career, not her character", but any little bit of communication helps in a relationship. And you can't watch something horrible like "Moulin Rouge" everyday now, can you?

I'll definitely be watching "Ghostwatcher 2" - as soon as it hits the free rental rack.

[–] TheScraggler 19 years ago

At least there's someone else out there who thought Moulin Rouge sucked.

[–] redshadow25 19 years ago

Ya fwe France'

[–] afilms-1 19 years ago

Man did moulin Rouge suck!!! Good on you David for getting another film deal from lions gate films. Currently in post of my own movie and I tell ya having no budget really sucks. Kudos to you for getting done what you could.
I know of some folks who rented ghostwatcher because of the bad publicity. Its a case of Ya have to see it to believe it!
www.wheatcityfilms.com