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5.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Ghost City remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have an hour to kill and love the smell of dusty, ancient celluloid, Ghost City is probably worth a lazy Sunday watch. But if you cannot stand scratchy audio and plots thinner than cheap toilet paper, you will absolutely hate it. 🤠
Bill Cody plays Bill Temple, a guy who rides into "Boom Town" which looks less like a town and more like three shacks and a sad wooden fence. He is there to expose Jim Blane as a crook, which is pretty easy since Blane basically walks around looking like he steals candy from babies.
There is this amazing moment where a henchman tries to shoot Bill from behind a rain barrel. The guy misses from about four feet away, and the camera just lingers on his confused face for three seconds too long.
The editing is so choppy it feels like the director used kitchen scissors on the film strip. It really reminds me of the rushed, cheap feel of The Branded Man, where nobody seemed to care if the scenes actually fit together.
And the sound! 🔊 Every gun shot sounds like someone popping a wet paper bag next to a very old microphone.
Helen Foster is here too, playing the love interest, though she mostly just looks bored while holding a giant bonnet. She has this one line of dialogue where she is supposed to look terrified, but she just looks like she forgot where she parked her horse.
But honestly, I loved the stunts. These old stuntmen really threw themselves off of actual roofs onto the hard dirt for probably ten bucks a day.
It has that weird, clunky energy you get in early talkies like See America Thirst, where everyone is still shouting at the flower pots where the microphones are hidden.
The final chase scene through the canyon goes on for about five minutes too long. It is just endless shots of dust kicking up, but somehow, it is still kinda cozy to watch.