The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine: Popcorn Frights Film Festival Review

‘The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine’ stars Graham Skipper (Sequence Break, Bliss) as Wozzek, a man who has created a machine that is able to resurrect people. With this, he hopes to resurrect his deceased wife while he deals with his own sanity in a post-apocalyptic world.

The film is both a beautiful and heartbreaking tale of grief, loss and a question of mortality. The majority of the film focuses only on Graham Skipper as he lives out his days in a lonely world, and he’s phenomenal. He’s a fantastic actor who’s proven to fit into any role perfectly and this is no exception. This particular film is especially challenging due to it taking place in one location with a very minimal cast. This means that Skipper has the responsibility of carrying the near 90 minutes duration on his shoulders, but he does this effortlessly. It’s both mesmerizing and sad to watch him try to keep hold of his sanity, with his only hope being the return of his wife.

Christina Bennett Lind (Wolverine Podcast, All My Children) plays Nellie, Wozzek’s wife and, despite the small role she has, she fully embraces the small amount of time she has until she becomes the star of the show at the end. Lind and Skipper have fantastic onscreen chemistry, making their relationship believable but, furthermore, it makes Wozzek’s desperation even more convincing-it’s evident through flashbacks and his emotions that they had a loving relationship at some point before the ‘calamity’. 

‘The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine’ can be likened to a play; there’s one location, a very small cast and the film has one primary focal character which is Wozzek, who monologues his way through the duration. And his situation is due to the previously mentioned Calamity, an event that led to the world becoming nothing. What’s appreciated is that the film sprinkles various clues as to what happened throughout its runtime instead of showing the full extent of the event, which works in its favour. Some of the clues are through flashbacks while others are demonstrated with incredible visuals of a changed sky. 

But its not just the sky that uses colour to its advantage; the use of colour throughout the entirety of ‘The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine’ plays a huge role in the story. The film occasionally changes from black and white to colour and vice versa, but it’s utilized in a way that is reflective of a situation and emotion. This filming style has meaning and a purpose to be the way that it is and isn’t just there to look pretty (even though it is). And, even then, the colours give the visuals a slightly washed-out picture inspired by that of an 80’s film. The colours and lighting not only indicate that the visual style is influenced by films from the 1950’s, but also from the 1980’s, giving it a unique and wonderful look. Not only that, but these aspects are almost a character itself because of what they indicate and symbolize. 

‘The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine’ is both a beautiful and heartbreaking tale that gracefully utilizes the techniques of a play. Graham Skipper and Christina Bennett Lind are phenomenal, and Skipper effortlessly carries the film on his shoulders. The use of colours and lighting play an important role and the film takes its time to tell its story. ‘The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine’ deals with grief, loss and mortality in an interesting way and is not one to miss. 

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