Once again Anchor Bay brings out another choice movie–while previously they had focused on rereleasing older movies to DVD, now, they’re starting to bring out some newer original stuff.  One such title they sent me was Ghost Machine, and frankly, I’m glad they did.

Ghost Machine puts the military in the market for an advanced combat simulator (murder simulator or video game if you happen to be Jack Thompson) and they’re well on their way to getting it.  But of course, when you have that kind of monster “video game” available, well, it’s really only a matter of time until someone decides to use it for fun. And indeed, that’s what happens.  But what no one knew until much too late was that the place where this system is currently being tested and misused is home to a cyberterrorist who was tortured and murdered following 9/11.

And as anyone who’s seen Ghost Hunters recently knows, ghosts are really little more than electromagnetic phenomenon, or at least that’s what they claim.  Anyway–now the ghost is loose in the machine, and it’s up to a handful of military techs to put the ghost to rest once and for all.

The best part about this movie is the sheer amount of action involved.  There’s a gun battle every few minutes or so, and even though the “immobilaser”, the movie / game’s final weapon, looks a lot like someone went to Gander Mountain and bought a spotter scope to top it with, it’s still actually pretty fun.  Yes, it’s a bit trite and more than a bit predictable, but this doesn’t detract from the fun.

And in the end, isn’t that exactly what we came here for?  Not plausible but outlandish theories about ghosts, not sensitivity and warmth and human feeling, but rather to watch a whole lot of ass get kicked.  That’s exactly what Ghost Machine will provide.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives this satisfying if shallow romp a seven out of ten for being awesome, but not terribly awesome.  Sure, they could’ve made this a little denser and a little less cliche, but it still turned out all right.