Ghost Machine
Anchor Bay Entertainment
R4 DVD
The
British Army is trying out a cool new toy, an enhanced virtual reality military
combat simulator. It is being tested and demonstrated to a group of SAS
soldiers by Tom and Vic. They decide to borrow some of the equipment for an
unauthorised weekend of gaming and drugs with a couple of buddies. The site
where they set up is an old Military Prison where post 9/11 captives were sent
for interrogation. Some did not survive the experience.
The
female ghost or spirit or whatever of one of the dead detainees, a woman who
hacked into computers to raise funds to support the terrorists, still haunts
the prison. It manages to find its way inside the VR simulator where it starts
a murderous rampage on the other temporary occupants.
A
vicious SAS sergeant , Taggart, was an interrogator
(read: torturer) in the prison and was responsible for the woman’s death. He is
now in charge of the SAS squad undergoing the simulator training. When he
realises some of the equipment is missing he tracks it down to the prison. He enters
the simulator himself and immediately attracts the wrath of the murdered girl’s
ghost. Inside the simulator she has more powers than the sim’s
programmers and can reprogram the locations at will. Tom can’t shut down the
simulation while there are people “inside” so he must wait helplessly as the
girl’s revenge is played out. He is also more than a little proud of being able
to trap a spirit inside his programming. The body count mounts up.
Although
the action keeps the plot moving, it must be said that some of the characters
are little more than cardboard cut-outs with no character development, and I
had expected better from a British film. Still, it’s a good enough piece of
drama with some interesting ideas.
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