Worth: $13.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Graham Skipper, Lisa Wilcox, Bobby Simpson II, Debbie Rochon
Intro:
... an enjoyable, if imperfect, slice of American Gothicism.
Written and directed by Mel House, whose credits include the thirteenth(!) entry in the Witchcraft franchise, Mystery Spot is a sombre and serious affair that is more reflective than first thought.
Somewhere off a dusty road lies a motel, largely undistinguishable from the many you’ll see on any road trip across America or Australia. It’s only real USP is that it shares land with Mystery Spot, a tourist attraction that has long since shut down.
Gathered at this rundown getaway are several disparate people. There’s the owner, Max (Lyle Knaouse), who appears both creepy and sorrowful as he laments his husband’s passing. Then there’s Nathan (Graham Skipper, Beyond the Gates), who spends his days recording endless auditions of wannabe starlets which he sends out as VHS copies to an unknown boss. Leon (Bobby Simpson II) isn’t necessarily a resident at the motel, but as a detective who has been staking the joint out for an undisclosed period of time, he may as well be. Finally, newly arrived, is Rachel (Lisa Wilcox, Nightmare on Elm Street parts 4 and 5). When we first meet her, she’s at the beach wandering fully clothed into the sea, seemingly with no intention of coming back. However, here she is at the motel with a bag of money, a camera and a plan of some sort.
The filmmaker doesn’t feel the need to rush his audience in getting to know his protagonists. Instead, he slowly unravels their backstories in preparation for the big reveal in the third act. Although possibly too glacially paced – the film clocks in at nearly two hours – the director uses the time to leave little surreal nuggets for you to pick up on. Whether it’s the piles of dust that Nathan wakes up to every morning which he seems unfazed by, or Leon debriefing a fellow colleague with a bullet hole in her head, there’s clearly something strange afoot. With all the hallmarks of a ghost story, House taps into his inner Mike Flanagan to use this a springboard to explore grief and how we process the trauma we experience in our lives. Is it successful? To some extent.
House appears sure of his story and makes a conscious decision not to reveal the cause behind everything, even by the time the credits roll. Your mileage may vary with how frustrating you find the film’s vagueness, but it’s interesting to watch something that doesn’t wrap everything up in a nice, neat bow. That said, the director does make choices that can be a little head scratching, such as when another character with a tragic story is introduced in the last moments. It’s just all a bit much to digest and nearly derails an enjoyable, if imperfect, slice of American Gothicism.
