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THE GHOSTS OF MONDAY ARE
INCOHERENTLY ENTERTAINING
by Thomas M. Sipos,
managing editor [January 27, 2023]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]Sophia (Marianna Rosset) and Eric (Mark Huberman) are an
estranged couple who reunite to produce a ghost hunters TV show. The
target of their paranormal investigation is an abandoned hotel on the
island nation of Cyprus. The hotel closed after a mass poisoning of
guests over 30 years ago, but is currently being renovated. Naturally,
the hotel is also rumored to be haunted.
Bruce (Julian Sands) is the show's "lead investigator." Really,
he's an entertainer, mugging for the camera, feigning fright, and
setting up fake scares. He also worked hard to get both Sophia and
Eric hired for the show, because he wants to reunite them, not only as
a production team, but as a couple.
But Bruce, like most characters in
The Ghosts of Monday, has ulterior motives and is not who he
seems.
Let's start with the positive.
The Ghosts of Monday is not your boilerplate ghost hunter's horror
film. It is not
found footage
(thank God!). Nor are there the usual
green "night vision" shots. There's even an actual story, with many
events occurring apart from the ghost hunt, during the day, and
outside the hotel.
On the down side,
The Ghosts of Monday is a blizzard of incoherence, its script
credited to no less than five writers. From the title we expect
ghosts, but we also get slashers, cultists, immortals, and at least
one monster (or demon, dark deity, or whatever it's supposed to be).
The characters even cover multiple categories. It's as
if every time a new writer came on board, he kept what was already established (okay, the guy's a ghost), but added his own vision (but a
ghost who's also a slasher), and so on (but a ghost slasher who
belongs to a demon cult), and so on (but a demon cult composed of
immortals), and so on (but good immortal cultists who are protecting the world), and so on, (so the slashers kill the camera
crew, so this dark deity can possess this woman, so she'll be immortal
and never leave the hotel, because if she does ...).
The story's many "twists" and "sudden
reveals" are doubtless meant to surprise and shock, but only
confound and frustrate. With each new "revelation," the characters,
their motivations, the entire story becomes ever more contradictory,
pointless, and silly.
Yet if you set aside all logic,
The Ghosts of Monday is pretty entertaining. The hotel has a
spooky ambiance, even during the day. I suppose that's because it's so
big and empty. There's something about vast spaces devoid of people.
The characters' lack of subtlety detracts from their believability,
but makes them fun to watch. Eric is overly overwrought. I'll bet he
grinds his teeth at night. Several of the minor characters might as
well have "Sinister" written on their foreheads. Julian Sands is
Shatner-like in his scenery chewing. And as in every good slasher
film, there's much eye candy among the ladies. I mean a lot of eye
candy.
Yes,
The Ghosts of Monday is a slasher film. It might also be called a
ghost hunter film, a monster film, and a demon film, but on top all
that, it's also a slasher film.
The elevator scene is the crown jewel of the film's slashings.
Christine (Elva Trill) dies just right. The acting isn't overdone or
underdone. The right amount of screaming, mixed with the right amount
of plaintive whimpers as her life ebbs away. The mise-en-scene
is
also effective. Christine bangs on the elevator's glass wall, while the people
many floors below are oblivious to her plight.
Well directed and well staged!
The gore effects are near perfect. One cut along Christine's forehead
struck me as a tad too wide, but I was impressed with the blood on the
elevator's floor. A realistic amount (not overdone) and nicely
spattered (rather than a single large pool dumped by a lazy fx
person). The red shade and consistency was also appropriate. Not too
dark, not too light.
You know you've seen too many slasher films when a slashing fails to
shock, frighten, or offend, but merely entices you to analyze and
compare it to a thousand other film slashings you've seen.
Some critics complain that the elevator was spotlessly clean of blood
only a short time after the killing. True, but
The Ghosts of Monday is a slasher film, and no horror subgenre has
a prouder tradition of disregarding logical coherence.
Ghosts's entertaining incoherence reminds me of
Terror.
Director Norman J. Warren admitted to
me that
Terror is full of internal contradictions and unresolved plot
points. He and screenwriter David McGillivray had simply compiled and
shot a list of
"cool scenes" they wanted to see in a horror film, paying little
attention to logical connectivity.
The Ghosts of Monday is not as entertaining as
Terror,
but its scenes and elements have that same haphazard feeling. The
difference is,
Terror's
haphazard lack of structure was intentional, whereas
I suspect that
Ghosts's incoherence is due largely to its many writers.
Some critics say that
Ghosts draws from The Shining,
Suspiria and
Inferno. I can see
The Shining influence, less so
Argento's. I suppose because Suspiria
has both witches and slashers (as does
Terror;
Warren acknowledges
Suspiria as an influence). And like
Inferno,
Ghosts's hotel has a large pool of water at its basement floor.
But whereas Argento is a master of fusing incongruent elements to
create a surreal ambiance, supported by a kind of "dream logic,"
Ghosts's story is just a mess.
The Ghost of Monday is alleged to be the first feature length
horror film shot on Cyprus. I don't know if it's true, but this
factoid is heavily touted in its marketing. Certainly, the characters
make much of it, reminding us several times that we're on Cyprus. And
there's a scene on a boat.
That boat could be anywhere in the Mediterranean.
There's nothing strikingly "Cypriot" about
The Ghosts of Monday. But I'm sure Cyprus's travel bureau and film
development office want you to know that the film was shot on Cyprus,
so I'm making a special point of mentioning it.
The Ghosts of Monday is no masterpiece. Nor is it very original.
Even so, it's
not dull. Some spooky ambiance. Some gory scares. Julian Sands is hammy fun. And did I
mention its many lovely ladies?
Directed by Francesco Cinquemani.
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