***Poor storytelling, overdone non-acting and confusing editing***
Released in 2007, "Dean Teaster's Ghost Town" (or "Ghost Town: The Movie") is a Western that takes place in the East, specifically the Great Smoky Mountains of NC. Maggie Valley has an amusement park called Ghost Town in the Sky (i.e. a Western town on a mountain), which is where the film was made and is now called Ghost Town Village.
The scenic beauty of this area was enough to pique my interest. In addition, the movie features the beautiful Renee O'Connor (Xena's sidekick, Gabrielle) in a small role with very few lines and Bill McKinney as the cartoonish villain. He's always great for such a role; remember him as the perverted mountain man in "Deliverance"? Other positives include Princess Lucaj as Violet Teaster and DJ Perry as Will Burnett, the good son of the villain (McKinney). Rance Howard is also on hand.
This is low-budget independent film, of which I'm a fan. It cost $1.5 million with the bulk of the budget going to the few recognizable actors. Unfortunately, "Ghost Town" is not a good movie despite the positives noted above, it's not even okay; in fact, it's nigh embarrassingly bad. I wanted to quit watching after a mere 10-20 minutes but forced myself to endure to the end (speaking of which, the movie’s overlong at 1 hour, 55 minutes).
It's as if the 'filmmakers' didn't really know what they were doing. For instance, the entire first act consists of two time-lines and it’s sort of confusing. At around the 44-minute mark Rance Howard’s character explains what’s going on, which verifies what you suspected was happening, but you’re only certain at that point. The story then gets a little compelling, thankfully, but it eventually fizzles out and you can’t wait for it to end.
The locations are great and the story could have worked, but they needed to hire a screenwriter and editor who knew what they were doing. I can handle every other weakness, including the over-the-top non-acting by the peripherals, but when the story and editing are flawed it fudges up the whole production.
Needless to say, don't invest in this one unless maybe you're a fan of Renee O'Connor (or any of the other cast members) or you're interested in the Maggie Valley area.
GRADE: D/D-
