MicroCinema Scene

Old Man is a very serviceable ghost story.  A serial killer goes on a rampage, dies in his house, and later, when a young couple moves into said-killer’s former homestead, they have to deal with the specter of the Old Man.  The cast is small; there’s the young couple, another couple to play the friends, and someone to play the mysterious stranger who warns of the Old Man’s presence (who might have also doubled for the ghost).

In other words, we’ve got the recipe for a very traditional micro-budget movie.  Most of the digital video is shot in and around one house, the cast is tiny, and most of the action surrounds a ghost-like character and “things that go bump in the night.” There’s little (if any) blood, and the few effects are done as well as can be expected on the tiny budget.  The actors do a decent enough job with the exposition-heavy dialogue, although I must admit I didn’t see much chemistry between the two lead actors portraying the couple who bought the Old Man’s house.  The Old Man looks creepy enough when he’s on screen (kudos to the mask maker), and the music does a nice job of setting the mood.

Technically the movie is pretty sound;shots are framed well, the sound is decent, and the lighting is okay.  The 180 rule is broken a few times, but overall everything looks good.

With all that said, I’d have to say that Old Man is just an average micro for me.  The biggest flaws come in two areas that any micro producer can understand–location and script.  The house where everything takes place is almost another character in the story.  And for a creepy ghost story to work well, the house needed to be just that; a haunted house.  Instead it looks like a nice remodeled home, with great hardwood floors and a new layer of paint.  It kept the tense scenes from being tense, and took away from the creepy atmosphere that the story and music were trying to set.

The script mainly fails the story near the end, where a certain character’s motivation comes down to something that isn’t even mentioned until it’s necessary to give an ending to the story.  I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it reminded me of when we were kids and would play make-believe there was that one boy who always said, “Well I’ve got a laser and I shoot you so I win.” Okay, we’re playing Cowboys and Indians; it would have been nice to know you had a laser when we started.

If you’re looking for a decent ghost story, Old Man is a solid effort.  Given a bigger cast and a better budget, I’m looking forward to what Guy McConnell and crew can turn out next.

Two and a half stars.

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