Ghost in the Machine

Plot synopsis:
A serial killer named Karl Hochman (Ted Marcoux) is known as "The Address Book Killer" due to his habit of stealing address books and choosing his victims from them. While he is working at a computer store, he obtains Terry Munroe's (Karen Allen) address book after another employee, who is demonstrating a scanner, copies a page of her address book into the computer. On a rainy night while heading home, Karl suddenly ends up in a collision with a truck, which causes his car to go off the road and swerve down a trail in a cemetery as he laughs. Moments later he dies as the police and ambulance arrives to the scene.
After he is put into an MRI machine in the emergency room, a surge from an electrical storm manages to transfer his soul into a computer. Now as a network-based entity, Karl continues to plot his killing spree using various objects connected to the electrical grid and computer networks.
Karl opens the scanned page from Terry's address book and begins to kill all the names that are on her list. Her co-worker, Frank Mallory (Richard McKenzie), becomes the first victim when he dies in an electrical fire. Another friend, Elliot Kastner (Jack Laufer), gets burned to death when a hand dryer turns into a flamethrower. Terry hires a babysitter, Carol Maibaum (Shevonne Durkin), to look after her son Josh (Wil Horneff). However, Carol becomes the third victim when she gets caught between an exploding dishwasher in the kitchen as she is electrocuted.
When the police do not believe the theory that Karl is on a killing spree after his death, Josh realizes the order of the killings is related to a list of contacts from Terry's address book that had been scanned into a computer at the computer store. Terry, along with computer hacker Bram Walker (Chris Mulkey), unplugs everything electrical in her house.
The police then receives anonymous reports of an armed robbery, hostage situation, domestic violence, and a murder in progress, all at Terry's house. The police open fire on the home after mistaking an exploding generator for gunfire. When they realize their mistake, they cease fire. Terry's mother was shot during the siege and goes to the hospital for recovery. Aided by Bram and Terry, Josh manages to defeat Karl by introducing a computer virus that traps him in a physics laboratory. They activate a atom smasher located in the lab, which draws Karl in and destroys him.
The film ends with Bram telling Terry to turn off a heart rate monitor in an ambulance as a signal fades out to black.

Tags: psychedelic, comedy, murder, violence, sci-fi

Review:
I saw this film on regular TV a few years back, and I watched because I like Karen Allen.
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.
This is one of those films that is so flagrantly horrible that its actually good, in the vein of Godzilla - its the type of film that you can watch on a Saturday night with a group of buddies and laugh your @$$ off to, the deaths are hilarious in their extravagance, and the killer is laughable along with the plot...read the prior reviews to get the jist of the movie, but read this one if you would like to know a good, bad movie..
The Ghost in the Machone is a very good scientific horror film that has a good cast which includes Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey, Rick Ducommun, Ted Marcoux, Wil Horneff, Jessica Walter, Brandon Quintin Adams, and Nancy Fish.
The film is quite exciting and the movie has some great horror moments!
Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey, Rick Ducommun, Nancy Fish, and the rest of the cast I've mentioned above, thrillers, Sci-Fi, horror, and exciting action films then I recommend this film!.
Ghost in the MachineThe 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.
Ghost in the Machine is one of my hazier VHS memories.I know I saw it when it made its way to video stores in the early 90's, but the details had long faded, like an old newspaper, or Eddie Murphy's career.
After re-watching the film for the first time in almost twenty-three years, it's hard to see why that moment stuck with me - it's not really spectacular, or particularly gruesome - but it's NOT hard to tell why the rest of Ghost in the Machine didn't stay with me at all.That's not to say there's isn't fun to be had with this sci-fi supernatural thriller, but the proceedings do have an unshakeable cheap, straight-to-video flavor.
Let's get back to the movie at hand.Ghost in the Machine was almost certainly green lit when hungry, drooling executives noticed The Lawnmower Man scraping in those Pierce Brosnan bucks and decided they wanted a piece of the early 90's tech-thriller pie.
Since this happens in the middle of a lightning storm, naturally his consciousness inserts itself into nearby electrical equipment, leaving him free to continue murdering with the help of his newly acquired powers to jump into computers and dishwashers and stuff.Ghost in the Machine was made in an era when the public at large was still unaware of the impending societal paradigm shift that would come later in the decade.
The camera zooms in and out of machines on a microscopic level as the villain causes mayhem, and a ridiculous scene involving a microwave is impressively gruesome.That's where the good stuff ends.
Started out with a serial killer that stole people's phone books and killed everyone listed in them.
Ghost in the Machine, 1993 Imagine if you took Lawnmowerman 2 and made a crappy version, then splice it with a lame serial killer thriller.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
By now, we cannot suspend disbelief enough after years of the internet, and the premise is tired and dated.Karen Allen, a decent actor, elevates the material a bit, as well as Chris Mulkey and a few amusing scenes with Jessica Walter, as the cantankerous mother in law.Other than that, the only memorable scene is when the dog disappears under the swimming pool tarp.
Really everything about this movie is horrid, starting with the nonsensical idea of a serial killer without personality who continues his murderous habits after he died, and this through computers, dishwashers and other electrical household items!
The guy got killed in a car accident but his "soul" was transferred to cyberspace so he can cheerfully go on with his modus operandi of slaughtering everybody who's in Karen Allen's address book.
Ghost In The Machine is a film with ideas that could of worked but just doesn't execute well.
Karen Allen was so attractive and likable in her early roles and seems really embarrassed to have ended up in a cheap serial killer flick.
Still upset over the death of their father, a woman and her son try to piece their lives together find that the deaths of her friends and acquaintances is the result of a serial killer transformed into the computer networks forcing her to turn to a computer expert to stop him before it kills everyone.When it tried there are a couple of rather good things about this.
The opening car accident gives this a great action-packed opening which featured something new, a car sliding on its roof through a graveyard from the driver's point of view, the different traps around the house where one gets their skin melted off in a super- heated room or being trapped under a rapidly-closing pool cover all work since several of the kills in here are pretty nice, while the funeral sequence where a crematorium furnace fires a coffin back out and a charred corpse goes flying into the audience of mourners is a rather effective shock moment.
The biggest flaw is the fact that the film makes absolutely no sense at all since there's nothing here to tell what's going on, how the killer came into its present state of being, or how it even worked in the first place.
A bad rip off of Nightmare on Elm Street mixed with Lawnmower Man, & a bit of Shocker.Sure, you are not supposed to ask questions like "Gee, why is the Address Book Killer such a stupid name?" or "Why don't CAT scans have surge protectors?", but it's hard not to.I found myself at odds with even more bewildering, illogical explanations.
Look, I'm not the one to judge intelligence when it comes to sci-fi or any "good" movie that requires a stretch of the imagination.
I think "Shocker" was just before or after this, the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies had already covered the subject which is that of a serial killer, killing from beyond the grave.
Movie about a divorced mother (Karen Allen) and her kid (Wil Horneff) being menaced by the Address Book Killer (Ted Marcoux).
I saw it because I like Karen Allen, I love horror movies and the premise sounded interesting--not good but interesting.
I realize you have to suspend disbelief with horror films but this one just got way too silly.The only things that make this work are good acting (especially by Allen), good direction by Rachel Talalay, a few funny bits by Jessica Walter and cool special effects.
Serial killer who murders people after he steals their address books is in a freak car accident while heading towards his newest would be victim's (Karen Allen) house.
The effects are average at best and the cast is nothing special, but the film does have its moments and a rather exciting finale.
The film had a new idea for its time, but it kept in on the old slasher stomping ground; people being chased down hallways, stalked at home, lights going off unexpectedly...
The electrical storm hits the hospital, and causes his soul to enter the computer networks and cyberspace, where he continues his killing spree of those names in Terry's address book with use of electrical appliances.They don't come across any dumber and juvenile than this, but Rachael Talalay's formulaic paranoid high-tech horror film "Ghost in the Machine" is amusingly watchable when its being unpleasant or either focusing on flashy computer-generated visual effects that have extremely dated by now.
The film slips from there onwards, with scenes worthy of a good eye-roll popping up every other second.The murders were creative and shocking, however - particularly the poor Yardley family, as an introduction to the killer's 'work'.
This movie actually made sense to me, and the title "Ghost in the Machine." Cool.
Up till now 'Ghost in The Machine' is by far the worst example of what a movie should be like.
This is how the story goes: A man works as a computer technician by day but at night he is a serial killer who uses other people's address books to find new victims.
Our beloved serial killer gets an accident on his way to his new victim.
Ghost in the Machine (1993) Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey, Ted Marcoux, Wil Horneff, Jessica Walter, Brandon Quintin Adams, D: Rachel Talalay.
The soul of a dead serial killer is captured inside a computer network from a surge of lighting; he begins to ply a killing spree through the electrical grid and appliances on a Cleveland single mother's friends, using pages from her lost address book.
Serial killer Ted Marcoux stalks his victims through address books he steals.
um okay, but when he kills a stereotypical blond airhead babysitter - as only found in movies of these sorts - that does nothing for me.Ghost In The Machine.
People really were afraid of PCs then and this movie is silly with some good and some bad computer graphic special effects.
It will keep you entertained while you are watching it, but this is one of those movies that will leave you hungry for another film.
The movie really had my attention at that point, especially when the mom (Karen Allen) and her son go into a computer store, and boom, there's the killer right there.
I thought the whole idea about an address book killer was really good and original...I'll say again, this one had my interest peaked, only until I realized that I made the fatal mistake of reading the back cover of the box...at that point, I was simply dreading the part when the killer gets zapped into the electrical wires...boy are my instincts ever right.Before I start bashing this one, I have to say it may not have been a fairly original concept, but the writers sure dish out very creative ways to execute (no pun intended) some of the scenes in this one.
He follows people everywhere, and begins to methodically kill everyone on the address book that Karen Allen leaves in the store.***POSSIBLE, BUT UNLIKELY SPOILERS AHEAD***The killings are way drawn out, not suspenseful, and will sometimes make you laugh at how ridiculous they are and how they are trying so hard to scare you.
But, you have to give the filmmakers credit, they tried really hard to make you scared, and at times, with little scenes here and there (a bowl of grapes deflating due to a bezerk microwave, the killer's garbled voice on the phone line, the body flying out of the oven while being cremated and of course, my favorite, the washing machine that displays sadistic wash cycles such as 'explode' and 'die'.
However, the deaths are pretty stupid and pretty pointless, except to continue where the address book killer left off by killing all of Karen Allen's friends.
And then there are some really bad inconsistencies...the WORST being when the son finally discovers that the recent murders are all happening in the order that they appear in Karen Allen's missing address book.
By the way, the scene with the trigger happy police sure would spell L-A-W-S-U-I-T.The acting is not bad, especially the guy who played the computer hacker extraordinare, Chris Mulkey I think is his name, anyways, he's in a few B-Movies and his acting is surprisingly good.
And as I said earlier, the guy who plays the serial killer, for the 15 minutes that he is actually on screen in the beginning, he is really chilling to watch.
Like I said, the opening scene with the dead family is disturbingly creepy, as well as when you see the killer in the store, licking his fingers which are caked with what appears to be dried blood.As for the special effects, aside from the quite well-done scenes of the killer traveling through the wires and going through people's systems, the effects are horribly bad in most areas, especially the end.
The special effects are just gruesome looking at the end...enough said.All in all, not a bad movie.
I liked the technical aspect, but as for the horror aspect, the movie falls flat on its face 20 minutes into the film.
Basically, once the killer goes into 'the machine', the movie dilapidates into eventually, a sorry excuse for an ending I've seen in a long time.
The movie is funny in the way that half of the scenes supposed to be scary or kewl doesn't pull through but then the other half works fine.
The catchphrase of the movie also happens to be the plot "There is no way anyone can kill somebody with a computer!" My reason for watching this is the early days of computers, cyberspace and Virtual Reallity plot and the SFX's.
If you can buy into it for entertainments' sake, you may find it to your liking.The story deals with a sick, sadistic psycho killer who robs address books from people and then murders everybody in the books.
(I actually forget exactly what town it takes place in because I performed a lobotomy on myself right after viewing this pile of crap.) The main premise is that some serial killer guy, about whom we are given no background information other than he sports the smile of a child molester and likes to drive into oncoming traffic, transfers his consciousness upon his death into a vast computer network into which apparently every computer in the country is hooked up to.
I don't hate this movie, but more could've been done with the quirky premise and this could've actually been a distinguished sci-fi/horror film.
One of the main reasons this movie was a box office failure was that Jurassic Park came out the same year, rivaling Ghost in the Machine in it's CGI, star power, and budget.
The film's villain is a computer hacker who is known as the "Address Book Killer" because he steals a person address book and kills everyone in it.
It was nice to see Chris Mulkey in a leading role after tons of character work and there were some great effects during a microwave scene.