Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here is a great little family drama horror story. His Mohawk is an exciting period revenge story. I enjoyed both. When I first noticed Brooklyn 45 on Shudder, I didn’t even add it to my queue. I judged that idiomatic book by its cover. I thought that a séance ghost story wouldn’t appeal to me. I know that is a good way for me to miss decent movies, but I’m only human! When choosing my 9th film of 31 for this spooky season, I reread the description and noticed for the first time that Geoghegan directed it. As you may have guessed, that fact bumped it up to the top of my queue. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Four army buddies reunite in the apartment of the highest ranking among them one snowy December night in 1945. The sole female, Marla, brings her “pencil pusher” husband along. They were asked there by Colonel “Hock” (played by genre legend, Larry Fessenden) for a drink and for a post-WWII catch up. They agreed to the meetup to support Hock knowing he’s having a rough time after his wife’s suicide. Hock convinces them to join in a séance to attempt to contact his wife. He is racked with guilt because his wife believed the German immigrants next door were spies and he dismissed the idea right up until she slit her own wrists. The amateur spiritualists successfully contact the dead but unsuccessfully end the séance properly. Now they are trapped in the parlor with the bridge to the spirit world open and more than one surprise guest.
It’s too bad I slept on Brooklyn 45 for so long. It’s a really entertaining and intimate ghost story that weaves in real-world horrors quite effectively. The single room (for the most part) setting gives the film a claustrophobic atmosphere that serves to effectively maintain the sense of being trapped. And it has all the ingredients for a good stage play – single room setting, small cast, and minimal digital effects. I mentioned Geoghegan’s effects in my review for We Are Still Here, calling them “perfectly terrifying”. This film uses some spooky digital effects as well, but the ghost design is more traditional. There’s even some goopy ectoplasm! And the cast does an excellent job of bringing their characters to life. I did, however, wonder why these folks all seemed to be well into middle-age despite two of them recounting being “in the shit” (not a quote from this movie.) just a year ago, before the war ended. And I am not going to spoil the non-supernatural conflict of the story, but know that there is a reveal in the plot that leads to some in-fighting among our cast of true patriots. Where this particular plot device leads may not satisfy every viewer. I certainly had ideas of where the story was going that turned out to be incorrect. I applaud any film that can subvert my expectations but I’m still not 100% sure that I appreciate the result in Brooklyn 45. I think I know the ‘moral’ of this story but it could easily be interpreted as nihilistic or defeatist. That’s not a dealbreaker though. If you’re a fan of throwback ensemble ghost stories, then this one will certainly not disappoint.
The Final Cut: Brooklyn 45 is a tense little one room ghost mystery that harkens back to the black and white low budget thrillers of the 40s and 50s.
No Real Danger 