- Directed by Francesco Picone
- Written by Francesco Picone
- Stars Jennifer Mischiati, Christopher Hulsen, Douglas Dean
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qefgheChI4
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s all good as bad things happen. It’s a ghost story that unfolds nicely, entertaining all the way through.
Synopsis
A man wakes up during a storm and hears sounds upstairs. He goes to investigate, but it’s dark and creepy in the attic. Then he finds that he’s not alone. Credits roll.
Alyson is moving into a new place; a big old house. Richard says it could only be temporary; if she’s not happy here, they could put it on the market. That night, she has a panic attack in bed, but he talks her through it. We get a flashback showing us she’s had these “dreams” or night terrors ever since she was little.
In the morning, we see a news report about a psychic who helped the police find a dead girl. He goes to work while she unpacks. We see that there’s a red ball of yarn in the baby’s room, which triggers another flashback to when Alyson found a similar ball when she was little. Richard brings home a plane ticket; the company is sending him for training overseas. She’s not pleased. Alyson says that her father just committed suicide, and it’s too soon to leave her alone. She brings up that Richard had an affair five years ago. She’s whiny, but he’s inconsiderate, so it’s hard to know whose side to take.
We get a flashback to when Alyson’s mother locked her in a closet for an extended period of time. Father mentions that mother isn’t well. He sends Alyson away while the priest and a couple of men come to “help” her mother.
That night, she has sleep paralysis again as some weird stuff goes on in the baby’s room; she hears it on the monitor. She calls Richard, and he asks if she’s taking her medication– she is not. We see that Richard’s playing around with his co-worker at the hotel. Alyson goes up to the attic and finds some videotapes from 1995. We see the priest, who can’t decide whether Alyson’s mother, Susan, has a psychological or supernatural problem. She stops watching the tapes when the Bible next to the TV bursts into flame.
The next morning, Alyson goes to see Father Elbert, the priest from the video. At first, he denies knowing anything about the past, but he eventually admits that he was involved. The priest explains that by putting her up for adoption, her father thought he was keeping her safe. Susan was clearly possessed, so he did an exorcism. That goes about as well as it did in “The Exorcist.” The demon says it is “the bride that was killed at the hands of this bloodline.” The demon is Mary, Alyson’s grandfather’s first wife. She disappeared shortly after the wedding. He explains that it’s not the house that is cursed, it’s the family itself.
Richard comes home, and Father Elbert explains it all to him. Richard throws the priest out. Elbert says it would be best if they could find the Bride’s body. On the way home, Elbert’s car breaks down. Something “gets” him.
That night, Alyson is attacked by skeletal creatures in her hallway. When they run upstairs, someone has taken the baby. Alyson finds an article about that psychic we saw earlier; she calls him. Richard’s still not completely convinced, but he talks to Dave the psychic as well. He has a clear glass ball in his pocket; it changes color in the presence of the supernatural.
They do a seance or some kind of hypnotic ritual, and Dave talks to the dead bride. He translates that the spirit feels anger and wants revenge. The bride was pregnant when she was murdered, and she wants Alyson’s baby as well. The bride has asked for help from Asmodeus, who has granted the bride the power to return from the dead. Dave also believes that finding the bride’s body will solve the problem, but it won’t bring the baby back.
Dave hypnotizes Alyson again. Alyson wakes up in a box. It’s open on one end, so she crawls in the dark. She comes out to see a TV show with her parents in a sitcom. Then she battles her long-dead mother. Meanwhile, Dave goes upstairs and runs into the skeletal man in the bathroom. Back downstairs, Alyson encounters all manner of weirdness in the spirit world. Dave goes looking for Richard and finds him, now apparently possessed as well.
Alyson watches as the bride puts on her gown and goes to the wedding ceremony. She also talks to her father, who apologizes for his mistakes. She then witnesses her grandfather shoot and bury the bride as she curses him with her dying breath. Alyson digs up the bride and finds her baby inside the coffin. The ghosts surround her and insist that they won’t let her go.
Alyson wakes up with Dave in the room. She wants to go back in for her baby, but he refuses. They hear the baby crying upstairs with Richard.
A week later, Dave stops by and finds Richard and Alyson moving out. Richard says everything is good now. Dave goes inside to find Alyson, and finds the baby all alone inside. He pulls out his little crystal ball, and it’s black now. Alyson comes in, and Dave gets nervous.
Richard comes inside and finds Dave on the floor, dead, and the baby is missing again. He goes up to the attic, where Alyson kills him with an ax.
Commentary
It all looks good, it’s well acted, and the pacing and suspense are well done. The sound seemed a little off, as if the whole thing were dubbed, which may have been the case. Between the possession, the kidnapping, the ghosts, and maybe even the devil himself, there’s a lot going on in this story, but it all makes sense and doesn’t feel rushed.
It was good. A fairly straightforward ghost story without any goofy twists or surprises.