acidburn-10 "Ghostkeeper" remains another entry lost during the slasher cycle during the 1980's. While it was to be more than a typical slasher according to the story, it was set to be a supernatural thriller, but the funding ran out halfway through, which means that the 2nd half of the film is rather dis-jointed and unfocused.The plot = we have three people stranded in the middle of a snowy mountain and take refuge in an abandoned hotel, where only an old woman and her son lives. Then strange things begin to happen as the legend of windigo surrounds the place in mystery.Well firstly it would have been nice to see what could have been, if the funding didn't run out, but it does make it hard to judge the movie for as it stands. It's definitely an interesting concept and the director has created an eerie and unsettling horror film with a cool Gothic atmosphere, especially the hotel itself which looks stunning covered in snow in it's wintery setting. Another standout moment is the chase scene with Jenny, which was one of the only highlights of this movie, which kept me on the edge of my seat, and the final twist at the end was rather interesting but didn't make a whole lot of sense.But the movie itself is very much underwhelming, for one thing the pacing drags in several places and the main villain windigo is just totally wasted, gone is the myth and what we do get is some hairy fat guy surrounded by blocks of ice, plus the 3 main characters aren't very experienced and it shows, like the female lead just sleepwalks through the 2nd half of the movie, and the male lead starts to go insane for some reason, which never explains why, but the old woman caretaker is the only saving grace, she was truly terrifying. But the supernatural element was almost abandoned halfway through and we just end up with a slasher with a low body count.So all in all, it's a shame that we'll never see the intended vision as this had so much potential but still an interesting entry in the 80's horror cycle.

Vomitron_G ***Only the 3rd & 4th paragraph contain spoilers***I had read up a little bit on "Ghostkeeper" before I decided to get me a copy and watch it. Since up until now I hadn't really seen a movie about the Wendigo legend that actually worked like it should, I was pretty interested in seeing another take on it. Furthermore, the comment-section for this film on here, is a bit peculiar, to say the least. Not too many people seem to have seen it, and in addition to that, there seems to be hardly any gray area. Some people praise it too high heaven, while others bash it to hell. I'd like to enter that gray area.While I'm not ignorant to the movie's flaws – because it does have its fair share of those – I would prefer to focus on its merits rather than to enlarge its shortcomings. I won't go too deep into the story and its characters, as enough of it can be read in schwarhol628's comment. Onto the things this movie has going for it. First off, the desolate, snowy Canadian mountain region provides a wonderful backdrop and adds to the bleak and hopeless tone of the film. Secondly, the musical score by Paul Zaza works wonders. Not only is it effectively eerie, it also helps to support a lot of scenes without dialogues (and there are quite a few of those). On more than one occasion you'll find yourself watching someone just walking through the dark corridors of the hotel with not much else happening. Take away the musical score, and indeed, you'll have a sequence with a whole lot of nothing going on. But the score brings a deep sense of dread and creepiness that fills up the hotel as if it was a dark, malevolent entity itself. This brings us, thirdly, by the hotel – or inn - which really feels like a forsaken place and it brings a similar presence to the film as the Overlook Hotel did for "The Shining". On a smaller scale, of course, yet also a darker one. Because this hotel, at times, really seems engulfed by darkness.Then we have what this film's story is actually about: The myth of the Wendigo. Now when it comes to that, I felt it had a distinctive ambiguity to it. Not noticeable on the surface at first, but it becomes more and more palpable as the events progress. I've seen the Wendigo depicted as a creature already in films, but here things are a little different, drawing more influences from the spiritual aspects of the myth. An over-powering evil dichotomously divided into the earthly and the supernatural. The hotel is inhabited by a mysterious old woman – undeniably Georgie Collins gives us the best and most enjoyable performance of the whole cast – who comes across as the caretaker of the hotel, but actually is the titular Ghostkeeper. Now the title of this film, confirms how this film handles the Wendigo myth. Partly, the Wendigo is portrayed as a "beast", more specifically a ghoul-like being with cannibalistic tendencies, living a locked-up life in the basement (nourished with human flesh provided by the old woman and her "other boy"). On the other part, the Wendigo seems more like a presence or a force, filling this isolated location with evil, driving everybody who draws near the place slowly to insanity. Now this last aspect, is also played out ambiguously. The old woman (as the Ghostkeeper under the influence of its evil) refers to Jenny as the strongest person of our trio, strong from the inside. While in reality, Jenny is the most feeble-minded of the bunch, which makes her the perfect victim for the Wendigo to get a hold of, to turn her into the new keeper. It's only gradually that the plot plays it out like this, as first everyone else either dies or slowly goes insane. Now as to the execution of this malevolent plot device, "Ghostkeeper" misses depth. And this is – aside from the obvious pacing problems – a major flaw. Instead of focusing more on the psychological downfall of the characters – admittedly, the cast of three would probably not have been able to handle this, as we're not dealing with stellar performers here – the script kills off Chrissy (the blond girl) soon enough, only to re-introduce the friendly old store-clerk from the opening scene, serving no other purpose than to also end up as food for the ghoul in the cellar. The only one left with hunger, is the viewer himself, as the script offers us little else to chew on.Looking at "Ghostkeeper" from a glass-half-full point of view, you might be able to put all the film's flaws aside and discover a chilling tale of supernatural mystery driven by an eerie atmosphere. If not, it might remain merely a strangely compelling void of nothingness. And worst case scenario: Perhaps it could put you to sleep. Such a shame.

Tikkin Ghostkeeper is not as good as others would have you believe. It does have a beautiful and creepy setting, and the film itself is rather creepy, but in a rather fake way. This is achieved mainly through the use of music, and whilst this is effective for the first 30 minutes or so, you get a bit sick of hearing the same music over and over.I think this film could have been a whole lot better. You can see the potential whilst watching it, and within the first 30 minutes I had figured out several ways it could have been better. The plot is where everything falls apart. It's really about nothing much at all. The ending is a bit of a surprise, but is so shallow that you think "jeez, that's what this film has been building up to?" Despite the excellent setting, I can't really recommend Ghostkeeper. It's like a very poor mans version of The Shining. If slow pace, creepy atmosphere yet lack of plot is your thing, you may enjoy this, but otherwise I would skip it.

Xtrife I couldn't agree more with what people have written about this movie, this is a absolute horrid movie, no plot, no acting skills, no light, no nothing of the things would make a good horror film. A cookie old weirdo woman that lives in a abandon hotel somewhere in northern Canada, if you just look at the location it's in, there is very little chance that people would come to place like that. the first few minutes you can actually see the actors, their trying but fail miserably to be good actors. the next long boring minutes is spend in total darkness, you hear sounds and see a few outlines of people in the dark, that's it. There is no music, just silence, if they had put a little bit of classic horror music in there, maybe it would have had a little bit of effect on people, not very likely though. Two sons, one doesn't do nothing in the movie, the other a ghost that eats man flesh. lots of pointless stuff happens, and then the ending if it so can be called.So do yourself a favour, and don't watch it, i got braindamage now :\, i don't want the same to happen to you.