We Have a Ghost - A Fun Enough Horror Adventure Movie with few Comedic Scenes

Last night I decided to watch this new movie on Netflix as it promised some comedy and I was in the mood for some. Plus there were few well known stars in the movie that interest me. OK, will get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

The Presley family that consisted of Frank (Anthony Mackie - Outside the Wire, The Woman in the Window etc), his wife Melanie (Erica Ash - Survivor's Remorse TV series etc) and their sons Fulton (Niles Fitch - Secret Society of Second-Born Royals etc) and Kevin (Jahi Winston - Charm City Kings etc) just moved to a new house to start fresh. Kevin somehow discovered a ghost named Ernest (David Harbour - Violent Night, Hellboy 2019 version etc) in the house, but instead of being scared, he actually befriended him. Frank then decided to put Ernest on the internet for monetary reason. 

However, Ernest also became the target of CIA operation led by agent Leslie (Tig Notaro - Army of the Dead etc) who had been searching for proof of ghost existence. Together with his neighbor Joy (Isabella Russo), Kevin who already grew attached to Ernest wanted to try and save him from being captured by the government.

So what would happen to Kevin and Ernest? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

When I started watching this movie, I was a bit doubtful if it would be a funny comedy, especially when we were introduced to the main characters who did not exactly scream fun people. Not even when David Harbour appeared as the ghost that I felt the strong humor in this movie. Luckily Jennifer Coolidge then helped to make it more fun, and despite her brief appearance as the medium Judy Romano, she managed to lift up the mood of the film.

The story was pretty simple where a family found a ghost in their house, but unlike in other films, instead of feeling terrified, they actually became friends with this supernatural being. And add to that a government agent adamant to capture the ghost, we got a recipe for a supposedly fun scenario. For me personally though, I felt that it was more of an adventure than comedy as I did not experience moments where I could laugh out loud and only one time that I chuckled (also involving Judy Romano). But I did enjoy the adventure especially with the inclusion of Joy who was able to supplement Kevin (even if she could sometimes be a bit of a nuisance).

David Harbour was pretty good as the kind ghost with Anthony Mackie quite decent as the father. I personally think that Jahi was not too convincing in his role as Kevin, as he seemed expressionless in few scenes. The rest of them were so so and were not impressive enough to make me remember them. There were few cameos of what I believed to be famous influencers (though I was not familiar with them). What I really like about this movie and also my favorite part was the moment on the beach which was beautifully done and truly memorable. It was emotional and left such a strong impression that made me value the film more and I think if my wife happened to watch this, it would affect her as well.

I read during closing credits that the movie was based on short story titled "Ernest" written by George Manaugh. The film was written and directed by Christopher Landon who had plenty of experience in directing movies like Happy Death Day, Freaky, Disturbia, Paranormal Activity movies etc. It has a duration of 2 hours 7 minutes which could feel too long if you are not invested in the story. Critics did not seem to be too impressed by the movie but they did not really trash it either. Not sure about the audience reception yet (might know more in the next few days if it make to the top of the chart).

Overall to me this one was an OK enough horror adventure movie with a nice story, few comedic scenes and a closure that was really satisfying. Although one or two things were not properly resolved (agent Leslie or the fate of Kevin's father) or the lack of truly funny moments, but in general I was quite entertained by the film. It might not be extremely great but at least I would always remember that beach scene. Even now as I am writing this post, I could see that heartfelt moment clearly. So if you are looking for a fun adventurous horror comedy (with one or two jump scare scenes), then you could give it a try as it is easily accessible on Netflix.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars