Ghost Machine
Director: Chris Hartwill
Starring: Rachael Taylor, Sean Faris, Hatla Williams
*
Starring The Transformers actress Rachael Taylor, Ghost Machine takes place in a top-secret British military compound, where a special forces trainee (Taylor) is being put through her paces by a computer battle simulation. Upon failing the simulation, she joins two cocky technicians (Luke Ford and Faris) who have stolen the programme and set it up inside an abandoned prison, hoping to use the game for recreational purposes. However, things turn bloody when an evil "presence", Prisoner K (Williams) uploads itself to the game. Despite having an appalling first half-hour, filled with stock characters and horrendous lines, Ghost Machine picks up slightly once the threat is introduced. The effects are quite impressive, raising the film's production values significantly, and Williams has moments of menace as the antagonist. None of this makes up for the fact that you don't care about those whose lives are at risk, thanks mostly to a script that never gets past generic survival-movie clichés. A clever idea given the current popularity of warfare video games, but poorly executed by all involved.
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