I'll first say that THE GHOSTMAKER isn't an original film at all. The premise seems to be a toss up between FLATLINERS and THE ASPHYX, with the narrative incorporating elements of FINAL DESTINATION and GHOST along the way. The special effects have clearly been inspired by those in THE FRIGHTENERS. Other than that, this is a surprisingly good little movie.

I wasn't expecting much from this, I admit, having had my fingers burnt too many times by the glut of boring, repetitive and clichéd teen horror films out there. Most of them involve a group of kids being bumped off by a maniac, but THE GHOSTMAKER actually has some intelligence behind it in the story of a trio of guys who find a clockwork coffin that has the power to temporarily transform them into ghosts.

The plotting isn't great, as things end up on a smaller scale basis than you'd expect, and there are some clichés here. But at the same time the character development is pretty intriguing, and the acting is acceptable for the genre. The special effects are actually pretty good given what must have been a tiny budget to work with. Not a film to blow you away but one well worth checking out for the horror fans among us.

This film was originally titled "Box of Shadows." "Ghost Machine" would have been a better title, but that was already taken a few times. Kyle (Aaron Dean Eisenberg) is a college kid with a rich beautiful girl friend Julie, (Liz Fenning) and a roommate Sutton (J. Walter Holland)in a wheel chair who has an unhealthy passion for Julie. Kyle also has a drug problem and a money problem.

While cleaning out a home, Kyle comes across a coffin the owner wants to dispose of. Kyle keeps the item and researches it with the help of a friend (Jared Grey) who adds the geek aspect to the film. This is a 15th century coffin with a music box in it. It was designed by the evil Wolfgang Von Tristem. When used, it gives a person an out of body experience, i.e. makes them a ghost.

The film is a little like "Altered States" and a bit like "Flatliners." The beginning of the film holds your attention as they go through a discovery phase. I loved the concept, but as the film progressed I grew less interested. The drug aspect of Kyle's life seemed less believable than the ghost coffin. Still it is a cut above the plethora of direct to DVD videos out there.

Parental Guide: F-bombs, sex/rape, girl shower nudity (If you were invisible where would you hang out?)

"Box Of Shadows" is a supernatural thriller that also has the title "The Ghostmaker" attached to the project. It depends on the country it is released to which one shows up. The film is directed by Mauro Berrelli and stars Aaron Dean Eisenberg, Liz Fenning, J. Walter Holland and Jared Grey. The story centers on a 15th century coffin with mechanical and very supernatural innards that allow a person to experience death for a set amount of time. In a ghost state the world opens up in ways that life could never allow. Only there are dark and fatale consequences to this devilish device. An apparition of death that stalks all who use the box tracks down the violators of nature and sets right the balance between life and death. The machine was created by the evil Da Vinci-esque figure Von Tristan. After a young college guy finds the coffin he and his buddies set out to discover the wonders and true value of the device. The movie has your standard thriller set up. A mysterious object set against friends who are more like frenemies. The production and story are written well leaving most of the suspense and atmosphere of this dark story up to the actors and audience to allow for the scares. The scares are really more subjective to the thriller element of the film as friends turn on each other and the discovery of a darker more sinister figure attached to the machine becomes apparent. The film does have some serious and edgy elements to the story that make for a more personal connection and deeper back story to the characters than most films of this sort. The overall action driven suspense and friction between the characters allow the film to be better than you would think. "Box Of Shadows" doesn't offer anything new to the film that isn't present in any other horror film. The characters are standard but just above cliché. The scares where minimal for me but the action and story were intense and dark enough with some real world edginess that I related to which held me to the film until the bitter end. The ending however was a bit cheesy but well deserved considering the intensity of the whole films multiple plots. I enjoyed the film and fill it is worth horror fans checking out.