Forgotten Horror - A New Years Movie You Haven't Seen - GhostKeeper (1981)

Three friends on a New Year's Eve snowmobiling excursion find themselves stranded at an abandoned lodge where the elderly female innkeeper is concealing a sinister secret.

With a remarkable atmosphere and unsettling tone from the start ‘Ghostkeeper’ is a forgotten gem that even some of the most hardened horror fans haven’t seen and maybe haven’t even heard of. While it was made in the shadow of ‘The Shining’ and does have some similar elements, this movie does more than enough to spin its own incredible yarn that feels just as engaging.

Shot in the amazing snow capped mountains of Alberta, Canada, which serves as a horrifying but beautiful setting for this story - I couldn’t help but feel like the surrounds played out like a character in the story also. The old lodge the characters reside in is extremely dark and cold and has less of an Overlook Hotel feel and something more like a Toolbox Murders vibe.

The shots of the area and lodge itself really ramp up the feeling of pure isolation and foreboding dread while the movie descends further and further into madness. While I won’t reveal the possible villain here, I will say it isn’t what you expect and is genuinely terrifying.

While the acting isn’t fantastic at times, from mostly unknown Canadian actors (what can you expect from an 80s horror movie) The best performance in the film is from Georgie Collins, who plays the mysterious old woman, and she is absolutely amazing from the start. At times the scenes may have felt like a chore to get through if it weren’t for the incredible score from by Paul Zaza, who reused some of the work in Prom Night also.

Apparently under severe time constraints and running out of money towards the middle of shooting, rather than close down the production the director Jim Makichuk decided to scrap most of his original script for the latter half of the movie and shoot it on the fly. While the film seems to end in an expected and bleak way it is actually a great and enjoyable ending to bring it to a close.

Overall ‘GhostKeeper’ is a forgotten gem that has been cast away from years and even still hard to acquire. This film is not for everyone make no mistake about that, but if you enjoy really atmospheric and subtle horror, then check this out as you won’t be disappointed. Make sure to put this movie down on your must watch movies in the build up to New Years from now on!

Originally posted to MacabreDaily

https://www.macabredaily.com/articles/forgotten-horror-a-new-years-movie-you-havent-seen-ghostkeeper-1981?rq=aran%20doyle