O Fantasma da Máquina

Ghost In The Machine is one of those movies that comes out with the emergence of some new technology and how it can go wrong. Computers were still in the major developing stages in the early 1990s (at least compared to today's standards), as was the Internet, and Ghost In The Machine seems to be a false start on getting a handle on turning the new technology into a horror movie or suspense thriller. The problem is that the writers of the movie were apparently so anxious to get the film written and filmed and released that they didn't take the time to put any thought into it.

The technical production of the film is not entirely a pathetic mess, even though it does assume that electronics come equipped with little windows through which can be seen the shining faces of people at their computers, and that electrical outlets with tape over them will display a blinking red ACCESS DENIED sign if you attempt to get through them, but even the most cartoonish computer animated scenes that took us on a roller coaster ride through our microwave ovens were at least mildly interesting, although not at all convincing. In this case, we are looking more at the technique than the content, the way you watch an abstract relaxation video.

The problem here is that the movie tells the story of how a serial killer steals peoples address books and then kills the people listed in them, but a reason for these killings is never even suggested. The closest we come to having a reason for why this guy is so eager to commit all of these brutal killings is during an early scene when he is driving home from his job at the computer shop, and in recklessly trying to pass a slow moving truck he swerves into oncoming traffic only to jerk the wheel to the left and go skidding down a steep hill upside down in his car, laughing all the way, HA HA HA! So the guy is completely insane. That's a reason, I guess, but probably the most uncreative one imaginable and therefore one of the least interesting ones possible.

The whole idea of the killer going into electricity in general is obviously the most unrealistic thing in the entire film, but it is stretched to cover almost the entire movie from beginning to end, which is what shows most clearly the fact that the movie is based on the emergence of the world wide web. It's kind of a what-if thriller about what would happen if a psychotic killer was accidentally released into the electricity based communications system that is the internet and was then able to defy all laws of logic and physics and who knows what else, and if he had somehow developed this overwhelming passion to kill a certain woman and her family and friends for committing the crime of leaving her address book at the computer shop. The movie makes a good solid effort to be a worthwhile thriller, but for the most part it falls completely flat.

Ghost in the Machine

The worst thing about being an online serial killer is that Internet users can leave comments about how "gay" your murders are.

Fortunately, the serial killer caught in cyberspace here can retaliate against such cowardly remarks.

When the Address Book Killer (Ted Marcoux) gets into an accident, he's taken to the hospital. As his injured body lies inside of an MRI, an electrical storm causes his mind to be transferred into a nearby computer.

Able to continue carrying out his murderous rampage, by possessing electrical appliances, ABK targets Terry (Karen Allen) and the contacts in her little black book.

Now, her and her computer hacker friend must trick the killer into accepting a virus.

Although dated, and poorly acted, this 1993 horror movie has some interesting ideas when it comes to cyber-slayings.

As for how to spot an online serial killer – they're the one who's wearing someone else's profile picture. (Yellow Light)

I know that's probably a horrible thing to say about the movie, but everytime I see it on one of the premium channels, I usually watch it just to see the babysitting scene with Shevonne Durkin. That said, this isn't a good movie at all. It hits its mark throughout. The idea is a nice one, but it's too much. It was made to shock with lots of gorey scenes, but it doesn't do so well on the horror side. The acting is decent, and I like Karen Allen and the two young boys in it, but the plot is off. If you see it on tv, you might check it out, but don't rent it. A movie with the best scene being the babysitter showing her bra is one I wouldn't spend money on!

Much was based on,special effects/science fiction.. Regardless.. Showed ideas of,how technology can be. Good cast & overall storyline,lead this movie. Watched it years back & now in 2020,it was a rather advanced concept.

I thought THE NET with Sandra Bullock was pretty over-the-top in the way her identity was so completely stolen, but it made a smashingly interesting thrill flick. However, THE NET was nothing compared to the overripe imagination of the screenwriter for THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE.

Computer tekkies will love all the computer graphics involved here in showing how a serial killer, during an MRI power surge, gets his killer soul inserted into a network of computers so that he becomes the hacker from hell. KAREN ALLEN is his main victim, since he was an employee in a store where she was looking for a computerized address book. He has designs on her the moment he sees her with her young son (WIL HORNEFF).

But she's not the only victim he seeks from her address book. Several others meet their imaginative deaths because of his stalking them through his computer wizardry (in most improbable and highly unlikely ways). But logic is the ingredient missing from the entire concept of this horror story that has fun devising various gruesome deaths for at least four or five people. CHRIS MULKEY is good as a computer wizard who helps her combat and ultimately destroy the virus which takes human form in the shape of graphic bits.

Not really as bad as it sounds but all the graphics become a bit tiresome after awhile. I thought one of the best scenes had the automatic awning on the swimming pool covering almost the entire pool in ominous fashion, until the boy decides to swim underneath it to adjust the controls. That bit of natural horror was scarier than some of the computer graphic nonsense.

Summing up: Not bad as these sort of things go. Holds the attention but demands complete suspension of logic.