Ghost Town Goes the Short Distance

After a botched train robbery, Clyde, the leader of the group decides that his men should hide out in an abandoned town they come across. While hiding out in the town, strange events start to happen that puts a chill up their spines. After Donnie, the youngest of the group, dies from a gun shot wound, his body disappears, making the travelers feel that they are no longer alone in this town. When Noah, Donnie's brother, goes searching for him, other forces and 'people' start to appear throughout the town (Internet).

Release Date: Spring 2006.

Rating: Restricted for violence, gore, and sexual suggestiveness.

Cast: Bill Elverman, Shan Applegate, David Blume, Danielle Dearing, and Will Ferguson.

Director: Tai Logsdon.

Writer: Tai Logsdon.

Composer: Trevor Mckay Smith.

Short, independent film "Ghost Town," delivers a believable ghost story set in the Wild West through the use of subtle lighting and realistic sets. Taking place within one town and primarily within one set this film utilizes the environment effectively through the use of distant lighting. "Ghost Town," appropriately takes place entirely at night, and a full moon acts as the only source of light. Casting long shots, and heightening the tension within "Ghost Town," the light source adds a somewhat bluish tinge to a mostly shadowy movie piece. As well, the shots of barns, saloons, and hotels each come across as being truly Western and set the cowboy mood.

Much of the acting, and dialogue serve to propel the story along and thankfully all of the actors get their characterizations just right. Shan Applegate as Donny especially stands out as he utilizes a Southern twang to heighten the rural feel of the picture. Each character interaction serves a purpose and the bond that the characters share, within the film comes across while watching the film. Possibly, friends outside of filmmaking each character shows empathy while delivering their lines on cue. Only one instance where a character interacts with a ghostly whore does the believability of the film slightly diminish as the character would rather interact with the spectre rather than looking for the exit. Overall, the acting of the film is well done especially for a mostly amateur cast.

Director and writer Tai Logsdon uses several different camera techniques to keep the visual scenery interesting while keeping the shots on the short end of the scale. Logsdon uses a back up technique, with his camera to cue viewers in to an upcoming scene change, and alters the height of his shots frequently to keep the pacing enjoyably quick. Sometimes the camera is set low to accentuate the profiles of the bank robbers, within the film, and sometimes overhead to allow for the introductions of ghostly apparitions. Logsdon also uses a revolving camera technique, near the end of the film that seems slightly out of place, but the story resolves itself effectively with a final shot of all three characters together. The length of scene times in many of the acts seems on the short end of the spectrum as the director pushes the action ever onward. A little more character interaction and a focus on individual scenes could have given the characters more dimension while increasing the depth of the story.

Overall, "Ghost Town," is an enjoyable, sometimes thrilling ride through a dark Mid-West cow town. Although, short on run time Logsdon does a great job of telling an original ghost story that will entertain most viewers.

"Ghost Town," can be seen at the sites below: