★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Intensity 🩸🩸1/2 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by Graham Skipper
Graham Skipper writes, edits, and stars in a “last person on Earth” tale that is charged with emotion.
Graham Skipper follows up his previous directorial effort Sequence Break (2017) with the stripped down, jolting feature The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine (2024). He also wrote the screenplay, edited, and stars in this effective supernatural tale of grief.
Skipper takes a plot formula reminiscent of themes that recall Edgar Allan Poe and EC Comics’ classic horror titles, with a dash of the “last living person on Earth” element. Wozzek (Skipper) loses his wife after a mysterious, sudden event called The Calamity. He grieves for her and constructs the titular device, which he hopes will bring her back from the dead. As his efforts seem to slowly be working, a mysterious, dangerous entity begins visiting him, complicating the widower’s scheme.
The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine is basically a two-hander, with Christina Bennett Lind doing a superb job playing opposite the terrific Skipper as Wozzek’s deceased wife Nellie. The dramatic interactions of these complex characters drive the film in an intriguing manner. Paul Guyet provides excellent voice acting in his role as the deadly entity. Ken Whiting captures the proceedings — which occur in both color and black-and-white — wonderfully.
There’s a major plot element that I won’t spoil here, but suffice it to say that the adage “Be careful what you wish for” applies to many horror tales, and The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine is no exception. Wozzek may be a flawed man, but his story is an engrossing one, and Nellie brings a whole other level of engagement to the film.
Review by Joseph Perry
The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine screens as part of the 2024 edition of Make Believe Seattle, which runs March 21–26. For more information, visit https://www.makebelieveseattle.com/.