The Life of Riley Venn: Ghost Magnet (2012) Reviews

• The Life of Riley Venn Ghost Magnet: Not entirely awful

  Platypuschow2019-03-01

  This is one of those hyper low budget ghost themed movies under the Paranormal Investigations franchise and for that reason I expected the worst of the worst. It tells the story of a documentary team who follow and record a mysterious man permanently on the run from the supernatural. Riley Venn "Ghost Magnet" and you know something, it's not actually that bad. The film looks better than they usually do and avoids most of the found footage ghost tropes (If not all of them), so for those reasons I have to give credit to those behind the camera. Those in front of the camera aren't bad either especially the guy who plays Riley Venn himself. The concept is oddly original for a movie like this and certainly got my attention and had me eager to see quite where this was going to go. It plods along at a passable pace but has some odd construction issues. Thankfully these aren't that bad but certainly noticeable, the problem is what it builds to. After your journey with these people you're expecting some big finale, some great revelation, something! But instead the ending hits you with the force of a light fart and is about as logical as the Trump presidency. It was such a shame, this was never going to be a groundbreaking movie but it was enjoyable. To go through all that and watch it fizzle out is certainly a huge shame. Regardless this is quite interesting for what it is and might be worth a watch for fans of the genre. The Good: Above par performances Best than most other of this ilk The Bad: Certain parts contradict others Weak finale