Ghost Town: An American Terror

Let me start by saying I'm an insomniac, in a sense. I usually have two TVs on at once with about 20 tabs open on the PC. Mostly the TVs are on for distraction so I can actually think in peace. On to the review... This movie is a low budget western.... But this is the "A Clockwork Orange" of westerns. There's a hint in the title. The way the script was written, it also gives you that "The Sixth Sense" feel.

There are plenty of things wrong with this movie, but it kept me engaged enough to not write it off. Would I watch it again? Absolutely, I have more than 200 accepted "Goofs" entries, about 100+ "Goofs" corrections, plus numerous plot and credit entries.... I'm sure a second, dedicated watch will create more entries for me...

It's literally the sharpest looking HD western movie ever, extremely vivid and unusual.

Acting and characters are okay- most of them, maybe the biggest downside is unusual constant brightness which is a bit too much, everything looks too much clean for a period of time where the plot is located.

But costumes are excellent, story is okay- without too many jump scares, main actor and majority of the rest are very good. However, except for the unbelievably original and accurately dated authentic wild West replication, for some reason camera had filmed only immediate shots which began to feel quite claustrophobic as the time went by.

This is a good film for a sleepless night. I found it on Amazon Prime at 2 AM today. It held my attention for the duration. Yes, it's low-budget, and yes, it's indie horror. I give it grades of A on both accounts. It defies noir conventions in nice ways, which kept me guessing even when I knew where the story was going. The acting and writing are actually good for this kind of film. The horror aspects are refreshingly creepy. No, it isn't going to keep you on the edge of your seat or make you scream. It's not that kind of ride. It will make your skin crawl and leave you questioning the value of human existence and pretty sure that most religion is malarky. It is worth seeing, and I for one will keep an eye on Owen Conway. He's got something here that is different enough from standard-fare indie horror to promise future good films, at least for insomniacs.

Excellent horror film that really deserves a theatrical release. Production values are noticeably high and the cast delivers some stellar performances, particularly Becky Jo Harris (playing against her usual "quirky girl" type as the prostitute Stella). Lead actor Owen Conway (who also wrote and directed the film) has great chemistry with Robert Sprayberry who plays the crusty bar owner Hagan.

Only downside I found with the film was the title. There are at least four other movies with the title "Ghost Town" (including a comedy starring Ricky Gervais) and even adding the subheading "An American Terror" doesn't quite distinguish the film, which is CONSIDERABLY scarier than Gervais' film.

I guess that most of the big actors stopped taking small roles. Just a few years ago, there were decent movies released almost weekly. That time has passed. I don't know how a studio can feel comfortable releasing something so bad. I literally felt like I was watching a high school play. It was terrible. The acting and writing were both awful. The bar owner was laughable. The ladies of the night were worse. As I've said before, judge for yourself. Watch it and tell me I'm wrong. Movies just aren't the same. There is a clear line drawn at the time of the pandemic. The producers of this movie have no business charging people to watch it.