Ghostkeeper

Plot synopsis:
Jenny, Marty, and Chrissy are spending their New Year's Eve on a snowmobiling trip in the Rocky Mountains. After talking with a storekeeper at a ski shop, the three decide to go riding before dark, but end up caught in a blizzard. Looming before them is a seemingly abandoned hotel at the top of the snow trail, isolated from tourists and miles away from the skiing area. The three enter the building to escape the increasingly harsh conditions, and find that the heat is on, but there are no lights. As night falls, they start a fire and tell stories and reminisce. Marty decides to go into the hotel kitchen where he finds an old woman lurking. She is brash and apprehensive of their presence, and they learn that she lives in the hotel with two unseen sons.
Though hesitant, the woman lodges them in rooms. Marty and Jenny argue in their bedroom, while Chrissy goes down the hallway to take a bath since the plumbing in the rooms is obsolete. While in the bathtub, Chrissy is attacked by one of the sons named Danny and held underwater. A restless Jenny goes to check on Chrissy, but the candle-lit bathroom is empty; Jenny then runs into the old woman and have a conversation about the hotel and hers sons. Meanwhile, Danny carries Chrissy to the basement of the hotel, where he slits her throat and then stores her body in a freezer. Jenny awakens in the night and hears the old woman talking to someone downstairs.
The next morning, Marty goes outside to the snowmobiles to activate them upon no success. Suspecting that they have been tampered with, he goes outside to an old shed for tools, while Jenny stays in the kitchen with the old woman. After accepting the tea from the offering woman, Jenny inquires about Chrissy's disappearance, but the old woman is evasive. Jenny returns to a lounge in the hotel where she realizes she's been drugged, and falls unconscious. She awakens in the basement, where she finds a book on Native American folklore and reads that a Wendigo is often "kept" by an old woman who had the power passed on to her from another. She opens the freezer and discovers a human Windigo inside, being the old woman's second son. Danny then comes down to the basement with a chainsaw and chases Jenny throughout the hotel, up into the attic. Jenny exits through a window onto a small balcony; she manages to push him over, where he is impaled on an iron fence below.
Jenny finds Marty outside, who appears to be possessed and rambling to himself while wandering into the woods. Meanwhile, the storekeeper arrives at the hotel where he is stabbed by the old woman. Jenny re-enters the hotel, where she finds Danny's body has been dragged into the foyer. She locates a shotgun in a storage room, and is confronted by the old woman who remarks claims that she is Jenny's deceased mother. Jenny shoots and kills her. Strangely overtaken, she visits the Wendigo in the freezer where she says that "she will look after you now." and finds Marty's body outside with no reaction. In the end, Jenny sits in a lounge chair in front of a fireplace as the old woman's head is heard.

Tags: insanity, murder, storytelling

Review:
They meet an old lady (played by Georgie Collins, who actually gives a really scary performance) who is living there with her unseen son, but she is hiding a ghostly secret.Definitely one of the better '80s horror films, this unknown little chiller should be a familiar entry in the genre, but sadly is seen by hardly anybody.
It didn't receive a big release and got little attention, which is really too bad because of how good the film is.
The isolated lodge and the snowy mountain backdrop are a nice accent to the film and really add to it's scariness, and are a little reminiscent of "The Shining".
This is achieved mainly through the use of music, and whilst this is effective for the first 30 minutes or so, you get a bit sick of hearing the same music over and over.I think this film could have been a whole lot better.
The ending is a bit of a surprise, but is so shallow that you think "jeez, that's what this film has been building up to?" Despite the excellent setting, I can't really recommend Ghostkeeper.
Ghostkeeper probably has one of the best horror movie settings ever, in my opinion.
It takes place in an isolated old lodge (Deer Lodge, an actual functioning resort)amid the snowy Canadian Rockies, surrounded by huge snow-covered mountains and towering evergreen trees.
I recommend Ghostkeeper to any serious horror fan who likes creepy, atmospheric films..
On a wintery New Year's Eve two women(Jenny and Chrissy)and one man(Marty)embark on a short snowmobile excursion.When the snowmobile breaks down,they are forced to seek refuge in a deserted hotel.There they confront powerful evil forces."Ghostkeeper" is a pretty creepy and atmospheric horror film which will keep you guessing until the end.The acting is solid and the atmosphere of fear and total isolation is well-captured.The locations sets(snowy mountains and a mansion in the middle of nowhere)provide some chills.Check it out if you are a horror fan.8 out of 10..
Poorly distributed during a period when the horror-film market was predominantly angled toward the slasher element, this low-key B effort is actually not bad at all, and should probably be reevaluated by genre fans.A trio of young snowmobilers face mechanical problems deep in the forest, and chance upon upon a neglected and very isolated hunting lodge.
Initially they believe the place to be abandoned, but latterly find it inhabited by a strange old lady and her son...as well as their "pet" Wendigo(a spirit of Native American lore, ever hungry for human flesh).While there's not a lot of meat on the bones of this story, the subtle atmosphere of eerie desolation makes up heartily for that fact.
The wintery Canadian mountains which provide the desolate setting are only slightly snowier than the plot, which finds withdrawn, teetering-on-the-edge-of-crazy Jenny, her rotten boyfriend and their slutty blonde chic friend stranded at a shuttered snowbound inn.
Many long, inactive treks through this abandoned ski lodge would be unbearable if not for the sinister score - which will ring familiar to most horror-nerds as nearly identical to the one from fellow 1981 Canadian horror film, Prom Night - both done by the same guy.
But if you can enjoy a spooky, hazy film which is heavy on dreadful atmosphere and creepy music while remaining non-existent on gore and nudity - you've met your match.
Since up until now I hadn't really seen a movie about the Wendigo legend that actually worked like it should, I was pretty interested in seeing another take on it.
Because this hotel, at times, really seems engulfed by darkness.Then we have what this film's story is actually about: The myth of the Wendigo.
I've seen the Wendigo depicted as a creature already in films, but here things are a little different, drawing more influences from the spiritual aspects of the myth.
The hotel is inhabited by a mysterious old woman – undeniably Georgie Collins gives us the best and most enjoyable performance of the whole cast – who comes across as the caretaker of the hotel, but actually is the titular Ghostkeeper.
Partly, the Wendigo is portrayed as a "beast", more specifically a ghoul-like being with cannibalistic tendencies, living a locked-up life in the basement (nourished with human flesh provided by the old woman and her "other boy").
Instead of focusing more on the psychological downfall of the characters – admittedly, the cast of three would probably not have been able to handle this, as we're not dealing with stellar performers here – the script kills off Chrissy (the blond girl) soon enough, only to re-introduce the friendly old store-clerk from the opening scene, serving no other purpose than to also end up as food for the ghoul in the cellar.
The only one left with hunger, is the viewer himself, as the script offers us little else to chew on.Looking at "Ghostkeeper" from a glass-half-full point of view, you might be able to put all the film's flaws aside and discover a chilling tale of supernatural mystery driven by an eerie atmosphere.
A bickering young couple and their sexy female friend are snowmobiling in the (Canadian?) wilderness when they run across an old hotel where they are forced to seek shelter from a sudden winter storm.
The one good thing I can say about this movie is that it does have a pretty effective atmosphere.
The gloomy, snowbound hotel is eerie and portentous, even if there is no real payoff to justify all the eerie portentiousness.This movie was made in the early 80's when the American horror film industry was starting to go south (figuratively), and the Canadian film industry, encourage by friendly tax laws, started to go south (literally).
Simply put, Jim Makichuk's Ghostkeeper is one of the most underrated, and undeservedly little seen horror films ever made.
Some reviewers have complained about the film being "dull", having unlikable characters, mediocre acting, and a disappointing monster.
Although the film's low budget limited what the film's makers originally wanted their title monster to look like, their decision actually works for the better.
But for those who like their horror films slow and deliberately paced with a fair amount of chills along the way then this is an essential viewing..
A slow-burn (or should I say slow-freeze) chiller set deep in the snowy mountains of Canada, GHOSTKEEPER is effective at creating an atmosphere and not very effective at doing anything with it.Three friends snowmobiling around the middle of nowhere for New Year's Eve soon find themselves stranded at a strange hotel, abandoned except for a mysterious old woman who seems to be keeping something from them.
It sounds like a solid set-up for a generic '80s slasher, and I've seen the film often categorized as such, but I'd hesitate to call it one.It's certainly not a "teens in the woods get picked off one by one by a madman" movie.
It's instead a "slow descent into madness" type of movie; imagine if THE SHINING had a no-name Canadian cast and wasn't really very good.That being said, icicles of atmosphere hang all over this thing.
For all those who didn't understand or didn't care for the psychological horror aspect of "The Shining", this is pretty much the exact same film, except that there's an actual monster in the basement of the remote snowy forest resort and you don't have to bother about any psychological mumbo-jumbo.
I heard and read from several people, whose opinions are always highly valued, that "Ghostkeeper" was more or less a hidden gem of early 80's horror; a film with a reasonably solid plot and a continuously sinister atmosphere.
This Canadian low-budgeter shamelessly imitates the secluded setting and mysterious ambiance building of Stanley Kubrick's previous year's blockbuster, but attempts to interweave with the famous Indian myth of the Wendigo – a cannibalistic spirit constantly craving for flesh – and a sub plot about an estranged elderly woman living, with her sons, far away from civilization.
They seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned hotel, only to discover the place is inhabited by a crazy old woman, her maniacal son and a "thing" in the basement that turns out to be Wendigo in chains.
Seeing there are only three protagonists in this film, it takes an unbearably long time before something significant happens in "Ghostkeeper".
Apart from the insufferable characters (Jenny is exaggeratedly frigid and the other two are stereotypical horror lambs to the slaughter), the film completely lacks gore and excitement and it's often too damn dark to determine what's going on.
Ghostkeeper (1981) ** (out of 4)Jenny (Riva Spier), Marty (Murray Ord) and Chrissy (Sheri McFadden) are out snowmobiling when they come across an old lodge.
The three end up staying the night there when they encounter a strange old woman but they have no idea of knowing that there's much worse there.GHOSTKEEPER is a Canadian horror film that I've been wanting to see for many years and especially since there were some really glowing reviews out there.
With that being said, GHOSTKEEPER turned out to be one of the bigger disappointments out there.It's really too bad that the film didn't work better because the setting and location were wonderful.
I really loved the snowy look to the film and I thought that director Jim Makichuk was able to milk some atmosphere out of the low budget.
The film at least had an atmosphere but at the end of the day it's clear that the director was wanting to try and cash-in on THE SHINING but it just didn't work..
I'm still not entirely sure what was suppose to be happening in this movie and what was suppose to be the motives of the bad guys, even though I think I paid pretty good attention to it.
I simply don't know what this movie is about because there is hardly any story in this film, even at the very end of it you don't have a single clue what was going on there.the little that What i found out that its about three three teenagers on a trip on a mountain they get stranded right in front of an abandoned hotel (what are the odds?) that turns out that there's an old woman who lives there with her son, and they learn that there's some mysterious secret hidden in basement, and after we see whats hidden in the basement the movie starts to make no sense whats so ever.maybe there are some people out there who can understand the plot but i don't and i really don't wanna find out what its about..
I couldn't agree more with what people have written about this movie, this is a absolute horrid movie, no plot, no acting skills, no light, no nothing of the things would make a good horror film.
A cookie old weirdo woman that lives in a abandon hotel somewhere in northern Canada, if you just look at the location it's in, there is very little chance that people would come to place like that.
As The Shining (1980) proved, an empty, snowbound mountainside hotel can be a very effective setting for a horror film.
Any attempts at creating atmospheric chills are negated by a dreary script, annoying characters, and a plodding pace that makes 89 minutes seem a lot, lot longer (the last half an hour took me ninety minutes to complete).The film starts as three friends, couple Jenny and Marty (Riva Spier and Murray Ord) and blonde Chrissy (Sheri McFadden), make their way to a lodge in the mountains for New Year.
With one of the skidoos suffering from mechanical trouble, and the weather taking a turn for the worse, the trio take shelter in the hotel, where they encounter a strange old woman who shares the building with her two sons, one of which happens to be a flesh-eating creature called a Windigo.With lots of wandering through deep snow and around the hotel's gloomy corridors, but little in the way of plot progression, scares or gore, there isn't much to recommend this movie.
This movie had scenes that I wanted to end that wouldn't, ridiculous dialogue (including some seriously bad singing), and characters that easily fell apart.
"Ghostkeeper" revolves around a group of friends— two women, Jenny and Chrissy, and a man, Marty— who are spending their New Year's Eve in the snowy Canadian Rockies.
A snowstorm begins, and the gang decides to spend the night in a seemingly abandoned lodge, but discover a disheveled old woman who resides there with her son, and something...
This caption ties in with the ghost-like creature/entity that is being kept in the abandoned lodge, and is the crux of the proceedings.The atmosphere in this film is wonderful.
Shot in the beautiful snow-covered mountains of Alberta, this is an excellent setting for the story to unfold, and the bleak but beautiful scenery provides a few chills all on its own.
The best performance in the film is from Georgie Collins, who plays the mysterious old woman.
The film ends in an unexpected way that is very bleak but strangely satisfying despite the general weirdness of the downbeat final act.Overall, "Ghostkeeper" is another one of many unknown horror gems that are hard to come by, but rewarding when discovered.
While it was to be more than a typical slasher according to the story, it was set to be a supernatural thriller, but the funding ran out halfway through, which means that the 2nd half of the film is rather dis-jointed and unfocused.The plot = we have three people stranded in the middle of a snowy mountain and take refuge in an abandoned hotel, where only an old woman and her son lives.
Then strange things begin to happen as the legend of windigo surrounds the place in mystery.Well firstly it would have been nice to see what could have been, if the funding didn't run out, but it does make it hard to judge the movie for as it stands.
It's definitely an interesting concept and the director has created an eerie and unsettling horror film with a cool Gothic atmosphere, especially the hotel itself which looks stunning covered in snow in it's wintery setting.
Another standout moment is the chase scene with Jenny, which was one of the only highlights of this movie, which kept me on the edge of my seat, and the final twist at the end was rather interesting but didn't make a whole lot of sense.But the movie itself is very much underwhelming, for one thing the pacing drags in several places and the main villain windigo is just totally wasted, gone is the myth and what we do get is some hairy fat guy surrounded by blocks of ice, plus the 3 main characters aren't very experienced and it shows, like the female lead just sleepwalks through the 2nd half of the movie, and the male lead starts to go insane for some reason, which never explains why, but the old woman caretaker is the only saving grace, she was truly terrifying.
But the supernatural element was almost abandoned halfway through and we just end up with a slasher with a low body count.So all in all, it's a shame that we'll never see the intended vision as this had so much potential but still an interesting entry in the 80's horror cycle..
VERY poor.My brother and I got this film going cheap and decided we like Z movies, so why not give it a shot?
Some people who are characterised so little that to call them 2D would be an insult to drawings arrive at an abandoned lodge deep in somewhere with lots of snow for no apparent reason.
Much like the making of this movie....The Wendigo, which is in fact a not very tall man in one of the worst monster suits I've ever seen (and I watch Doctor Who) is in the film for around thirty seconds, meaning the time spent on his inclusion was oh so worth it, because it wouldn't have made sense to have made this a serial killer film instead.The ending.
Apparently she became the keeper of the beast, because thats EXACTLY what you would do after all your friends, a mad old woman and her son, and some bloke who owned a shop nearby (this was the only other building shown, there wasn't even any outside his shop)were killed by each other, or in one case apparently going mad and being covered in engine oil.This film isn't good in any way.
It wasn't even like the film monster was a poor attempt at the box one.
The most fun you'll have here is looking at the pretty scenery of the snow-covered mountains.
With such an isolated and picturesque location surely it wouldn't have been difficult to get a little bit of atmosphere conveyed on film, but sadly there is none here.
In the final act it all goes a bit weird, with one man (obviously having watched Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING too many times) cracking up and going for a walk in the snow without his jacket.
A blonde bimbo has her throat slashed (the only tiny bit of gore in the entire film) and then is apparently cannibalised by something living in a locked room, although we don't actually get to see any of this or know fully what's going on.The acting is poor (none of the actors or actresses are familiar, apart from one woman who appeared in RABID), the music is non-existent and the whole film makes little sense.
With little action, poor writing, little horror, bizarre cuts (one scene goes from two characters fighting to one of the characters impaled on a fence, whether this was poor editing or some kind of cut to the video have, I'm not sure), and a total lack of drive, GHOSTKEEPER is yet another low budget misfiring film to avoid..
The scenery is beautiful and the abandoned hotel spooky, but most of the cast leaves a lot to be desired in terms of acting ability.