New to Netflix today is the horror-comedy, We Have a Ghost. The movie – from writer/director Christopher Landon – is based on a short story by Geoff Manaugh, stars Anthony Mackie, David Harbour, Erica Ash, Tig Notaro, and Jennifer Coolidge, and tells the story of a young family who move into a haunted house in Chicago.
In the movie, Frank and Melanie Presley move with their two sons, Kevin and Fulton, to a new home to make a fresh start. Shortly after moving in, Kevin explores the attic in his new home, and discovers a ghost called Ernest.
At first, Kevin makes light of the ghost, but then quickly realises he should make friends with Ernest instead. However, as Ernest is a silent spook, while Kevin does offer friendship, he is unable to learn anything about him or why he haunts the house.
Eventually, Kevin’s family learn of Ernest’s existence, and then so does the world. This in turn attracts the attention of a paranormal specialist with connections to the CIA, who is keen to prove the existence of the afterlife, and capture Ernest.
When I first became aware of We Have a Ghost, I was quite excited about this movie. Filmmaker Christopher Landon has worked on some of the Paranormal Activity films, and has called the shots on such horror classics as Happy Death Day (2017) and Freaky (2020) – two particular favourites of mine – and this gave me high hopes.
So, I went into We Have a Ghost with fairly strong expectations, and looked forward to seeing how it shaped up. But shortly into the film my excitement fizzled out, never recovered, and I came away severely disappointed.
We Have a Ghost is dull, lacklustre, and quite tedious. The humour falls flat, the story never really takes off, and the whole thing feels lifeless (no pun intended).
All the cast are fine, but no one really shines, and poor David Harbour gets shafted with the role of a mute ghost. There’s not much for him to do, except wander around gurning, which is a complete waste of his talents, and even he looks bored in this movie.
Even the ever-reliable Jennifer Coolidge is wasted in her brief role as a TV medium. She has a couple of humorous lines, but that’s about it, and what she offers is about as funny as this film gets.
I don’t believe it is the cast’s fault here, I just feel the material isn’t strong enough. We Have a Ghost has some decent ideas, and there is the sense it has its heart in the right place, but the majority of what’s on offer is mediocre at best.
All this film does is remind me of Peter Jackson’s excellent (and much better) supernatural comedy, The Frighteners. And after about 20-minutes of watching We Have a Ghost, all I wanted to do was switch the film off and watch Peter Jackson’s excellent (and much better) supernatural comedy, The Frighteners.
Watchable, but ultimately quite forgettable, We Have a Ghost is a misfire. It looks OK, but it just doesn’t land as intended, and boy does it drag.
Give it a whirl if you’re curious, but don’t be surprised if you find your mind wandering, or you simply switch off before you’re even halfway in. This film is a bit of a dud.
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