An internet fashion mogul’s daughter goes missing from the rural estate she calls home. An urban legend concerning a summoned spirit who snatches the soul’s of phone-addicted dorks. A reclusive psychic. A team of tech-savvy ghost hunters. That’s the stew we’re working with. I have not been quiet about how Bloody Mary scared the shit out of me in my youth and the freaky entity at play here is just a modernized version of that childhood nightmare that made it impossible for me to sleep in a room with a mirror. World weary psychics with drinking problems are my kind of psychics. Vast estates in the middle of nowhere with plenty of corners and shadows to hide in are my kind of haunted locations. Ghost hunters in over their head are how I prefer my investigations. So, needless to say, I had my dinner plate ready for second helpings. Bella Hawthorne is called in by the frantic mother (stopping her from writing her suicide note after mournfully looking at a photograph of an older gentleman. I should also note that this farewell message was being scribbled on a piece of paper with a giant header in fancy text that read Final Words of Bella Hawthorne. Yeah. It’s serious) and the distressed woman is out of options as the police believe her kid ran away but mama is thinking the paranormal is at play and she will pay whatever sum is required to get her girl back. Bella consults with the framed picture of her father and heads out. An excited group of corporate sanctioned ghost hunters (actually in the “hunting” sense as they are a bit more hands on and instead of just trying to make contact are there to terminate to the best of their ability) are looking forward to the payday in their future and are ready to kick some spooky booty. They’re not exactly happy to hear a psychic will be joining them (they prefer to rely on science), especially one who has a history of fucking things up. Not that Bella’s happy to have a team there too. She prefers to work alone and would have walked if not for the desperate mom pleading for her to stay. Luke is the level-headed leader of the group. Willy is the obnoxious loud mouth with a chip on his shoulder. Jada is a bitchy New Yorker who immediately dislikes Bella. Neil is an older gentleman who is new to the group and seems to be the expert on all things spooky. Troubled by the fact that the spirit they’re up against may be stronger than anticipated, the lure of money and fame if they’re successful at their job quiets any concerns and they decide to take a couple days to see what they can accomplish. They also lose their hotel rooms so end up breaking protocol by staying the night on the property. Jada calls forth Amorosa because she’s desperate for funds and the spirit answers. Bella picks up on the lands twisted history, Luke and Bella hit it off and prove to be quite a capable team, the mother seems like she may be hiding something and it may take its time to get there but bad shit is on the horizon. Making the genius move of setting a familiar story in a universe that’s just slightly outside of our own in its acceptance of supernatural tomfoolery, this bad boy gets to have some fun with its nightmare. It doesn’t exactly work all that well when it aims for drama and some of the comedy elicits more groans than laughs but luckily it’s way more concerned with the specter handling and shenanigans. I respect anything that feels fresh this deep into the genre game and everyone here is trying their damndest to make this work. Troubled pasts, violent entities, two likable leads and minor scares (still an awesome if barely seen entity) join together for an unexpected good time.
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