GHOST SON
Laura Harring is one of the most talented and beautiful actresses working today, yet few people know who she is even though she’s been acting for over 20 years. As the enigmatic dark-haired beauty in David Lynch’s puzzling MULHOLLAND DRIVE, Harring garnered notice mostly for her love scene with Naomi Watts.Harring co-stars in Lamberto Bava’s latest offering, GHOST SON, a supernatural yarn that is notable not only for it’s rich and colorful cinematography, but also for the remarkable restraint the director has for violence this time around. Bava has never been one to hold back on gore as his previous efforts such as MACABRO, A BLADE IN THE DARK, DEMONS, and DEMONS 2 can attest to.
GHOST SON is about a married couple, Stacey and Mark (Harring and John Hannah, respectively), who are deeply in love and living on Mark’s farm in South Africa. They enjoy many a passionate night together but, this being a Bava film, we know that this bliss will be short-lived. Rather than work with her friend and colleague Elizabeth (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni), Stacey decides to remain on Mark’s farm and work with him. They have some friends, Bongani and Leleti, who seem to believe in other-worldly spirits, and Thandi is their teenage maid.
When Mark leaves for work in his truck, he suffers an accident and manages to call Stacey on his radio. Frantic, she rushes to his aid, shocked to see him pinned under the vehicle. Although she manages to raise the truck with a jack, Mark succumbs to internal injuries and dies. Devastated, Stacey returns to the farm and decides to remain there since she feels close to Mark. As the days pass, she is reminded of her past experiences with Mark. His funeral is especially painful, as she recalls Mark telling her doctor that he was marrying Stacey.
Mark begins to appear to her, asking her if she can live without him. He’s persuading her to commit suicide so that they can be together in the afterlife. After a reluctant suicide attempt in the bathtub from which she is saved by her doctor, she realizes her weakness and vows not to try again. When her doctor asks her how she’s been, she realizes that she’s been late with her menstrual cycle. It occurs to her that she is carrying Mark’s baby. After a complicated and painful delivery, it becomes obvious that Stacey’s infant son is possessed by Mark’s spirit. While breast feeding, the infant practically bites off Stacey’s nipple, although he has no teeth. Stacey pleads with others that something is wrong with her son, but her cries for help go largely unheeded. As the days progress, the baby seems to be trying to kill her to bring her to Mark so they can spend eternity together.
Bava pays tribute to William Friedkin when Stacey brings her son up to her face and he inexplicably vomits violently all over her. The scene is more comical than scary.
After the evil forces at work kill Thandi, Stacey is face to face with Mark, and she renounces him, choosing to remain and raise their son who, once Mark is banished, grows up to be a normal child.
Eschewing the all-systems-go bloodletting of his previous efforts, Bava here chooses to direct the film with higher production values and less blood, which may not be good news for his fans. The film has a great look provided by director of photography Giovanni Canevari (credited as Tani Canevari), and the production design is by the wonderful Davide Bassan who also worked with Bava on DEMONS, and did wonders for Dario Argento on OPERA.
GHOST SON is due for theatrical release here in the States, and it’s definitely worth a look on the silver screen. Whether or not this Region 2 PAL DVD version is the same version that will be released here remains to be seen. Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, who is appearing in Dario Argento’s forthcoming THE THIRD MOTHER, appears in two scenes in this version, and I can only hope that she has more screen time in the American cut.
If you live in the States, this disc can be ordered from Xploited Cinema out of Cleveland , OH . Ask for Tony, and tell him that Horror Express sent you!
