B-MOVIE BLOCKBUSTERS: GHOSTKEEPER
BACK OF THE VHS BLURB:
At a snowy retreat, a couple and their horny friend decide to go snowmobile around despite a storm coming in. After finding a seemingly abandoned lodge, they break in for no good reason at all and then decide to wait out the storm inside. Bad planning and unlawful entry aside, they also find the place is not as vacant as it could be, leading to what can only be called the last half of the movie in this thrilling horror tale of what I think is Wendigo lore, maybe.
So...WTF did I just watch?
MOVIE: Ghostkeeper
YEAR: 1981
DIRECTOR: Jim Makichuck
CAST: Riva Spier, Murray Ord, Sheri McFadden, Georgie Collins, Les Kimber, Billy Grove, John MacMillan
B-MOVIE HIGHLIGHTS:
Alright, lets dive into this one. We start with vacationers at a snowy retreat that decide to head on out and do some snowmobile riding. Now we got Jenny (Riva Spier) and Marty (Murray Ord) who seem to be a couple, but they have in tow their blonde and horny friend, Chrissy (Sheri McFadden). What is Marty really up to here? I'm not sure but I'm already suspicious. Well they head out and stop at a store before going deeper into the mountains. The storekeeper (Les Kimber) warns them against being out in the mountains in the storm, but fuck this guy, right? Marty moves the party along despite Jenny showing a small iota of hesitation.
The group navigates up into an undisturbed area, and finds a hidden and abandoned lodge. First order of business, break into that bitch because, you know, why not right? After finding it oddly warm inside, they figure that the storm will hit them and they should just shelter inside. Like, why the hell did you even go then? If not for this hidden building, they would have all probably have DIED. Geez, Marty. Anyway, we get Chrissy telling sex stories and Marty and Jenny's strange and strained relationship comes to light.
Marty calls Jenny crazy, which sets her off. Apparently, Jenny's mom went crazy, and she just doesn't want to end up like her. With the foreshadowing being applied liberally in this long sequence of dialog in the lodge, it’s a welcome respite as we finally get to a kill as Chrissy has decided to take a warm bath, in the abandoned lodge, that somehow has hot running water. Mid bath we see that there are actual inhabitants here, and one guy comes in to drag Chrissy from the bath. Jenny is looking for her, but only finds the empty tub, and finds that to not be strange at all.
Chrissy gets a solid throat slit, and is taken to what seems to be some sort of igloo cold storage facility in the basement of this lodge. Like seriously, it’s blocks of ice with a door. So, she is fed to what I think is supposed to be a Wendigo, or something. This is where it just starts getting weird.
Jenny runs into an old lady in the hall, and also finds out that they did break into someone's place like a bunch of assholes. Marty plays the, "oops sorry but since we are here" card and the old lady reluctantly lets them stay with her and her two sons. One of the sons is Danny, the guy who killed Chrissy, so good company is truly kept here.
The old lady does more creepy shit that has Jenny and Marty on edge, and their failed search for Chrissy is causing what seems to be a little bit of distress. Like Jenny is concerned, kinda. Marty, well, he's just a dick really. He wants out and tries to use the snowmobiles, which are miraculously broken now. As he tries to work on it, Jenny asks again about Chrissy, but the old lady only has drugged tea for her. Jenny drinks it obviously, because it’s better than dealing with this shit vacation. She awakens in the basement, and finds a book about the Wendigo, and how it is passed along from woman to woman like a fucking cryptid heirloom. Jenny is attacked by a chainsaw wielding Danny, and the most lackluster chainsaw chase scene follows. Eventually, using matador tactics, Jenny dodges Danny's attack and he crashes out of a window stomach first onto a spiked metal fence. Marty wanders over and has more stupid shit to say about it.
Marty decides to go looking for parts or something. What he actually does is go to the shed and loses his fucking mind I guess. He war paints his face with like engine grease and just starts rambling. Jenny tries to help with a solid but minimal effort, and when that fails, Marty just wanders out into the snow to eventually die.
The storekeeper from earlier, for no good damn reason at all, ends up at the lodge and is promptly killed because, like what the fuck are you doing here bro? Jenny comes in to find Danny's body in the foyer, and goes and finds the gun and confronts the crazy old lady. She now claims to be Jenny's psycho mom, and this is where she belongs. Jenny shoots her, but then is suddenly sad. She goes down to the in-house igloo, talks to the Wendigo, who has not killed a damn person in this film, and says she will take care of him. Then you realize you just watched a film about a Wendigo but it did absolutely nothing. The fuck is that?
This movie tried really hard for having a small cast and like one actual location. The lure of a Wendigo got me to watch it, and what I got was some asshole named Marty and the most docile Wendigo of all time. Still was a fun ride and if you haven't taken a trip this holiday season, try swinging by and checking out this B-MOVIE BLOCKBUSTER.
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