Ghost Town (1988)
28KGhost Town: Directed by Richard McCarthy, Mac Ahlberg. With Franc Luz, Catherine Hickland, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Penelope Windust. A modern-day deputy tracks an abducted girl to a ghost town, and the spirits of the past who took her.
“Perhaps u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; isnu0026#39;t one of the best horror movies of the 80u0026#39;s, but at least youu0026#39;ll have to admit the concept is refreshing, courageous, original and semi-successful. This one of the very few horror/western hybrids ever made and particularly the accomplished atmosphere is praiseworthy. u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; maintains an unsettling and ominous ambiance throughout, and I have to confess that was certainly the last thing I expected to find in a Charles Band production. The basic plot and conceptual ideas (thought up by David Schmoeller of u0026quot;Tourist Trapu0026quot; and u0026quot;Puppet Masteru0026quot;) are reasonably ingenious as well, but the script is sadly very incoherent and occasionally even forgets to make the slightest bit of sense. u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; opens with the mysterious disappearance of a young woman who literally gets sucked into a time-tornado after being deviated from the main roads and chased by an invisible horseman. The young and straight-shooting deputy Langley follows her trail and ends up in a forsaken and seemingly cursed ghost town in another era. The townu0026#39;s dominated by an immortal and sadistic outlaw named Devlin, and he also kidnapped the young woman (for reasons still unknown to me) and keeps the cursed villagers under a siege of terror. u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; often feels incomplete, as if several extended parts of the screenplay were left out. Many things remain unexplained, but you strongly feel that – somewhere in the original script – there must have been perfectly reasonable answers to all questions; only the ended up on the cutting floor instead of in the film. Thereu0026#39;s the aforementioned WHY regarding the kidnapping of the girl, but also the background of Devlinu0026#39;s character remains too vague. Still, if you manage to overlook the few shortcomings in the script, youu0026#39;ll reckon that u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; is actually scarier than most contemporary horror movies, and this even without the use of gory make-up effects or many gruesome killings. This movie has other trumps for generating suspense, like the sublime choice of locations, uncanny music and creepy characterizations. Devlin is a fascinating villain and Jimmie Skaggs did a tremendous job playing him. He looks menacing, talks nasty and just loves raising hell wherever he goes. I really enjoyed those copious times where he stood in the saloon or out in the streets, spotted the deputy and shouted out u0026quot;Lawman!!u0026quot; Other supportive characters are pretty cool u0026amp; creepy too, like The Dealer and the blacksmith. The end sequences are a bit weaker again, but by then u0026quot;Ghost Townu0026quot; will already have made a lasting impression on you and itu0026#39;s most likely going to be a positive one.”
