Are my eyes deceiving me? I happened to log onto Shudder and saw a newly-added item that I recognized immediately from my college days: I Am a Ghost. Back before Let’s Talk Terror, I had a Blogger account and would post reviews of this and other films there. Unfortunately I had long deactivated the account and couldn’t find my original review; but this gave me the opportunity to watch the film again and almost relive it. From what I remember, I had written this as an entry for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (which is in May), because the main character, Emily, is of Asian decent. While it’s not May, February is Women in Horror Month, so it still fits! Now, onto the review — spoiler alert!
Emily, a late 19th/early 20th century woman, goes about her daily business at home: cooking and eating breakfast, cleaning, writing a grocery list. We quickly see that her days are slightly off, though. She is alone in her grand house, and there are scenes of her holding a knife, throwing up into the bathroom sink, and disappearing into thin air as soon as she opens the front door. Between moments of normalcy, Emily is obviously suddenly frightened by something but unable to actually leave her home. A disembodied voice, Sylvia, attempts to help Emily figure out what is really going on.
I forgot how much I liked this film. It brings back this amazingly comforting nostalgic feeling right from the beginning. I’m not sure what kind of vintage effect they’re using throughout the film, but the edges of the screen look like reels of film, and it’s shot in such a way that’s like looking into a historical diorama. And the story, a medium (Sylvia) helping a ghost (Emily) move onto the afterlife, is both thought-provoking and entrancing. Then there’s this other really interesting effect that makes it look like a heat wave is passing over the screen ever so slightly, something that only really happens between Emily and Sylvia.
The story is amazing too. We get a look into what it might be like when a medium makes contact with the deceased, in a sort of therapy-style setting. Confusion, sense of loss and grief, fear of what happened and what happens after, it’s all here brought together wonderfully by the script and cast. I enjoyed the thought of a monstrous intruder committing the murder, but then finding out Emily actually had a disorder where she hallucinated the monster and killed herself. The monster itself was actually pretty cool too, though it’s just a naked man in grayscale with a filtered face that makes his mouth appear bigger. It was the funky movements, silence-turned-to-screams, and jerky cuts between action that kept me glued to my screen.
Of course, no movie is without its faults. Emily appears to be wearing a wig, which is a little distracting. Some photos she looks through are clearly from a different, later time period than the one she’s dressed for (and that her house appears to be from). But honestly, that’s it — small details that don’t overly affect the end result. Could I identify with Emily or Sylvia? Yes. Was I waiting in anticipation for the next action? Definitely. And as this was my second time watching, did I Am a Ghost feel as fresh and exciting as it did the first time? Most certainly!
I Am a Ghost is a clever film. Though it may pale in comparison to bigger hits like The Conjuring series or Poltergeist, its humble setting and simplistic story give far more in terms of quiet enjoyability. I appreciate this type of film immensely, and I’m so happy that it was picked up by Shudder so I could enjoy it again.
What do you think of I Am a Ghost? Let us know in the comments!
