digsite

Every so often, whomever decides what movie airs on late night television picks a real bonefide winner. And last night, they done did it again. Another wonderful masterpiece has graced us with its existence at 1am making it real hard to hang on to a good reason to still be up. Of course I didn’t have to watch it. Nobody was holding a gun to my head. Nobody was offering a grand prize for making it through that two hour challenge. But I just couldn’t help myself. Like an accident on the highway, I couldn’t look away.

Last night’s little gem was Ghost in the Machine. At the center of this story is a serial killer (aka The Address Book Killer) who goes around stealing address books and killing all the people in them - in alphabetical order. Very early on he gets into a bad car accident and at the moment of his death inside an MRI machine, he manages to escape into the electrical system of the hospital and surrounding area. He continues on his killing spree by causing all manners of “accidents” involving household appliances, motorized pool covers, and traffic lights. He can travel through power lines into light switches, computer systems, surveillance cameras and video games at the arcade. Not even unplugging everything will protect you from his wrath. Apparently in movie-land, “electical system” also includes sewage pipes, rubber hoses, and plain old air. Wireless Power. I’ve always thought that was a great concept but unless it’s a lightning bolt or static electricity, it’s just not believable.

I hate hate hate it whe directors can’t even get the computer stuff right. At one point the son is playing a game on his computer when he’s very rudely interrupted by his email software. It actually stopped his game in mid-frag and throws up a huge box in the center of his screen that said something like “You have new mail”. He opens the email and proceeds to have an instant message converstation because, in movie-land, email is real-time interactive. Didn’t you know? Like Duh!

Despite all that what really got my goat was the dialogue. One of the first signs that this was going to be a painful two hours was when mother and son go into a computer store to buy a gift for a friend. She’s talking to the sales guy and says “I need to buy … uh..” failing to remember whatever it is she wants to buy, she looks over at her son as if he should be able to finish her sentence, and she says “..what’s that again? uh.. Desktop Software.” *cringe* Of course the sales guy suggests something brilliant like “Paper Master” (like Paper Tiger) and wouldn’t you know it? He already had it installed so he gave her a tour right there on the spot. This never happens. But it served the screen writers purpose because he got her to take out her address book for the demonstration. And even though she picks up her keys right next to it, she leaves it behind for the killer zapper electro man to find.

Of course, like any good lover of scifi, I didn’t have any problem whatsoever with the bit about a man’s soul existing in electrical wiring. :)