Architect, Jonathan Rivers is devastated when he loses his wife in a tragic accident on the day she finds out that she’s pregnant. Just as he is leaving for work, he sees a man sitting in a parked SUV across the street. He ignores the man and goes to work, only to see him sitting on a bench in front of his office. The man identifies himself as Raymond Price, who found peace when he contacted his deceased son via EVP.

Raymond stops following him, and Jonathan tries to return to his normal life. One day, he is showing a building to one of his firm’s clients when they get stuck in the elevator. The lights go out, and then Jonathan’s cell phone rings. The caller is from Anna, his deceased wife. Her cell phone is lying in his dresser drawer at home, inside the plastic “personal effects” bag that the police had given to him.

The incident sends him to Raymond’s house, where he is shown video and voice recordings from dead people who had allegedly contacted his clients. At first, Jonathan is overwhelmed by the possibility of communicating with his wife. Then he becomes obsessed with the idea to the point where this obsession begins to take over his life. The bizarre incidents that take place help keep his obsession alive, despite warnings from a psychic and from Raymond.

“Not every spirit is nice,” Raymond had said.

Jonathan tries to piece together what is happening around him, while still searching for Anna. Raymond’s words fail to register until the explosive climax. Everything was tied up at that point, but the last scene is somewhat open-ended, suggesting a sequel of some sort.

I enjoyed this movie very much. Keaton did a great job portraying a grieving and obsessed widower. Although I didn’t like the static in the beginning of the movie, I thought the producers did a good job with the cinematography. There were plenty of spooky scenes and elements to make this a satisfying ghost story. Highly recommended.

The main body of this film began in Red River, Tennessee in 1918. After a land dispute with a local woman, whom many feared to be a witch, John Bell and his family began experiencing terrifying visitations from an unknown entity. This entity first appeared as a menacing wolf, who prowled the Bells’ property. Then it began to attack John’s teenage daughter, Betsy, with a savage vengeance.

An American Haunting would have been a great story had it not been for the entity/poltergeist/ghost. The problem was, I wasn’t sure which it was supposed to be. Poltergeists are known to center on teenage girls who have experienced some kind of trauma. This one knocked physically attacked people and objects, recited Bible verse, showed its victims their past and futures, etc. The entity was too much of a mixed bag.

What really made this film a third-rate feature was the present-day “bookends” the director decided to tack on. The movie began with the girl crashing through the snow, obviously running from something terrifying. Her ordeal turns out to be a nightmare, similar to the ones Betsy experienced. The second one came at the end of what I call the real movie. While it mirrored Betsy’s painful secret, it offered nothing else. These scenes didn’t belong and should have been cut.

My pans aside, I enjoyed the acting very much. Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland gave a splendid performance, as did the rest of the cast. I loved the cinematography, especially when the entity was making its rounds. While I give this movie a very lukewarm recommendation, I am curious to read Brent Monahan’s book on the subject.

While researching for information about the infamous Waverly Hills Sanatorium last summer, I found this DVD. Based on the synopsis, I had misgivings about buying or renting it. If you haven’t heard of or seen Death Tunnel, I’ll give you the gist of its plot. It’s about four college girls who find themselves trapped in the haunted hospital in an initiation rite. The object of the game was to spend the night and come out alive.

Although the story had potential, it fell pitifully short. I would have loved to have learned more about the ghosts that haunted the rooms and halls of the place. You’ll learn some information about two of them, as well as a twist about one of the girls which may or may not surprise you. Mostly, the viewer is subjected to a bunch of sex kittens screaming in terror and shouting profanities as they bumbled about. I found myself laughing, rather than jumping, throughout the entire movie.

That said, I enjoyed the cinematography. The producers did a great job gathering the necessary props, and the ghosts in the film moved smoothly, unlike other recent ghost stories, where they jerk about. This is the best part of the movie. You’ll also get the basic history of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, although it’s shoved into the characters’ dialogue.

Overall, Death Tunnel is a typical B-rated horror film.

Stephen King has confirmed that Lost co-creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof will adapt his epic multi-volume book series The Dark Tower for the screen. Up to this point, King has refused to sell movie rights for this series, even from his longtime collaborator, writer/director Frank Darabont, who adapted The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

“I said no to everybody until recently, because I didn’t think much of the chances of it being a good movie,” King said in a panel discussion launching Marvel Comics’ new Dark Tower comic books at the New York City Comic Con on Feb. 24.

Stephen King considers The Dark Tower series his life’s work. He has been writing these books since he was 22 years old, so I guess they would be. They are so different from the rest of his books.

He finally relinquished the rights to the Lost co-creators because he is an ardent fan of the show.