Set in New Orleans, this film is a strange mixture of genres -- part film noir and part ghost story. Josh Lucas plays a detective, guilt-ridden over the shooting of an innocent boy by mistake. He is assigned to a stakeout in an empty house across the street from a suspect, Terrence Howard, who is possibly implicated in a number of bizarre serial killings. The detective soon discovers that the stakeout house has a reputation in the neighborhood of being haunted. A young female musician was murdered there several years earlier, allegedly by her own brother, who has been placed in an asylum for the criminally insane. When the detective discovers he is able to see, hear, and even touch the ghost of this murdered woman, played by Lake Bell, he realizes that she can only find rest if he can find her real killer and thus set the brother (Nick Lashaway) free. Deborah Ann Woll (of "True Blood") and Sharon Leal play friends of the murdered woman, and as such, their own lives may be in jeopardy. Cary Elwes stands out as the villainous owner of a country club that may be a front for drug trading. The movie is an atmospheric indie thriller that manages to be both suspenseful and moderately entertaining, thanks to sterling performances from Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard. Thus far, its only DVD releases that I'm aware of have been in Germany and Australia. Hopefully, it will be available in the U.S. before long.
Review of Ghost of New Orleans
