Thoughts on the ghosts *spolers*

This was an atmospheric movie which left the viewer with a sense of dread as the suspense built. And, as with any good psychological thriller, it left the viewer with thought-provoking questions well after the movie is over. The biggest question, of course, being: Were the ghosts real or a manifestation of David's mind? My conclusion was based on a few points: (a) From the beginning of the movie, David seemed to be a man who was unsatisfied and lacked a range of emotion. He appears, rather, to go through the motions of everyday life instead of living with feeling. Due to his stagnant behaviors, I believe this is why his wife ultimately embarked on an affair.(b) David and Alice had lived in their current home for many years without any occurrences. Yet, upon watching the 16mm footage of his home, he became so obsessed with its history it overtook him. His obsessive behavior is also exhibited in his need to follow his wife to her lover's house. I believe the stress of his deteriorating marriage and the 16mm footage fed into his obsessive personality and helped manifest the ghosts in his mind. (c) There are a few points in the movie where we see what was believed to be reality (particularly the scene between David and Claire in which he is trying to convince her that there is an entity in the film he made) is not the truth of the situation. IE: In the aforementioned scene, we are originally to believe she saw the entinity too, however, find out the reality is she didn't see anything. This goes to show how delusional David had become. So, were the ghosts real? The ghosts were very real to David. They were a manifestation of his fears and insecurities, and also provided him with a way to cope with/displace the act of killing his wife.