When
two slackers discover the house they share is haunted, they try to use this
novelty to score with a ghost-crazy chick.
If this seems like an inappropriate response, than you are probably not
a dude in his 20’s. Or 30’s. Or maybe even 40’s. Intellectually and emotionally, Brad and
Sergio are barely adolescents, decidedly out of their depth in Scott Rutherford
& Ben Peyser’s found footage horror spoof Ghost Team One (trailer with all kinds of profanity here), which screened during the 2013 SlamdanceFilm Festival in Park City.
When
Sergio has a strange, unexplained experience during a kegger, Brad assumes he
was just drunk—because he was. However,
the two decide to become amateur ghost chasers when they learn Fernanda, their
very attractive party guest, is obsessed with the paranormal. It turns out their house was once a notorious
brothel, whose madam disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
As
recorded by Billy Chen, their unseen Craigslist videographer, the lads go about
documenting their ghost, a la Paranormal
Activity. However, they are far more
interested in putting the moves on Fernanda.
It is not exactly Noel Coward’s Blithe
Spirit, but there are plenty of laughs to be mined from this basic premise,
with Brad and Sergio essentially serving as the horndog versions of Scooby and
Shaggy.
As
Brad and Sergio, Carlos Santos and J.R. Villarreal play off each other quite
nicely and have a real flair for raunchy stoner humor. Fernanda Romero is a charismatic screen
presence, who credibly portrays her namesake’s willing obliviousness the all
the lust focused at her. However, Tony
Cavalero frequently upstages everyone as Chuck, the aggressively uptight third
housemate.
It
probably cost Rutherford and Peyser more to travel to Park City than to make Ghost Team One. Nonetheless, there are moments of genuinely
inspired gross-out humor, including a climax so demented viewers have to see it
for themselves because words fail. Those
who enjoy taste-defying humor with supernatural trappings should keep an eye
out for Ghost Team One. It is bound to find an appreciative audience after
its world premiere at this year’s Slamdance.
