Jacob is a professional photographer who lures girls into his big studio that's located in a basement. In there he drugs them, take their pictures and then kills them. One day he meets Aimee, a girl who goes with him just like his previous victims, but who also fights him and almost manages to escape. Eventually Jacob gets the situation under control, or at least that's what he first thinks. But not before long, ghostly images and strange noises starts haunting him. Is he really alone down there in the big basement or is there someone there with him.. someone who's supposed to be dead?
Psychological horror, isn't it just a wonderful thing. No teens, no unnecessary/unjustified gore, no dumb monsters, but instead a creepy and horrifying story that is told in a clever way and that'll linger in your mind after that the film's over. Sure, if you'd watch stuff like this every day it might not be the greatest thing, but these little indie gems that really work are quite rare and therefore it's always something that's appreciated. To find movies that are really scary is not an easy task, at least not for a grown-up person who have spent his or her life watching horror flicks, so when these movies comes along it's just about as exciting as Christmas Eve when you were 5-something years old.
I saw Ghost of the Needle when it first came out and not only was it a creepy and well-told indie film, it was also very stylish, intelligent, not to mention artistic. Late last year I got to see Brian Avenet-Bradley's new movie that was Dark Remains which was a great horror film that dealt with the supernatural. A while after having seen that I figured I should give Ghost of the Needle another shot because the only thing I remembered about it was that it was good. I re-watched it and this time around it hit me just how good this flick really was, so I tell you this, if you tend to like these psychological horror type of films and have some interest in the whole indie scene, then look no further.
 
The great thing about Ghost of the Needle is that it pretty much does everything right from beginning to end; be it the acting, how the story is told, the suspense that just keeps increasing all the way through or the cinematography which is, simply put, just freakin’ great. Movies like this are pretty much the reason to why I love the horror genre, of course I'm into a lot of things horror, but if it wasn't for these kind of movies popping up kinda seldom but still once in a while, I'm not sure how long it would've lasted for. So thank you Brian for this, the horror biz most definitely need more filmmakers like yourself.
The writer/director/editor also has the lead in the film and plays a photographer named Jacob who likes to take innocent girls to his studio, drug them and take photos of them. And when all that is done, he simply kills them and moves on. One day, when out on a job, Jacob meets Aimee, a girl who he takes back to his studio and plans to kill as usual. But Aimee fights back and for a while there, she almost manages to escape, but "luckily" Jacob manages to get the situation under control.. well, at least that's what he thinks. It doesn't take long before he start hearing strange sounds and seeing dead people come alive again.
Ghost of the Needle is pretty much a nail-biter from start to finish and the way this movie was shot makes it carry a dreadful atmosphere with it pretty much all the time. The character development is good and even though we don't get too much background on Jacob, it still feels like you get to know the guy pretty well. Another interesting thing is that Jacob's the bad guy here, but when watching the film, you almost feel sorry for all the horrible situations he's put through. For an indie movie, the film looks great and it's obvious that Brian Avenet-Bradley is quite a talented man.
Ghost of the Needle is a very suspensful horror film that sure has its scary moments, and those are scary moments that actually works. If this film would've had a high budget, it would've been amazing, but as it is, it's still way beyond decent, in fact, it's pretty darn great.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Dead Still
MOVIE YEAR: 2003
DIRECTOR: Brian Avenet-Bradley
WRITING CREDITS: Brian Avenet-Bradley
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Brian Avenet-Bradley, Cheri Christian, Greg Thompson
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 86 min
RATING: 9/10
Ghost of the Needle Website/IMDB Click here
Ghost of the Needle Trailer Click here
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