Michael Mongillo (The Wind [2001]) serves as director and writer, presents a story based solely in crime and dark drama, with a hint of romance and as for including the heading of horror, that’s missing once again just because a film contains a ghost or even a dead body doesn’t mean it’s horror, while setting his movie with lots atmosphere and ominous moods. The movie contains zero jump scares, no gore, droplets of blood and barely any hint of frights, reinforcing the fact it’s not a horror film, that gets distributed by Random Media.

Carlee Avers portrays the lead character Diane, who starts the film by singing, then quickly evolves to finding a partially clothed woman in the backyard of an Afghanistan war veteran Steve (Jason Alan Smith (Big Bad Wolf [2006]) who also suffers from physical and emotional scars. Before Diane and after her departure via the corner, Steve begins to stare at a photo of her, taken with his phone, the image works on haunting him, as he continues his daily chores of drinking, smashing bottles and enjoying his drunken state of bliss. His life in a downward spiral neighbors think he’s a killer, the police don’t believe a word he says, and harass him about the victim and even the Diane’s husband, showing up accusations of him attacking his wife in a sexual conquest. Steve’s biggest problems can’t keep any promises and unsure why this woman Diane came to die in his yard. Meanwhile Diane’s ghost, haunts him, as he begins a series strange flashbacks and through them he changes and transforms by stopping his drinking and burying his physical scars, all of it unsure why it happens. Detective Phillips (Margaret Rose Champagne, of the Bikini Bloodbath films fame) hammers him more thoroughly on his connections to Diane, but never getting far with Steve’s nonsensical answers. Sadly on another level the film truly becomes a bloodless drama, there’s more violence found on network television shows, than this effort, without any frights, hard pressed to include in the horror genre.

Once more, perhaps a new common theme in movies of one actor holding the screen time for over 95% of the film, this is the third movie in one month I saw do this trait, thankfully Steve doesn’t carry-on conversations with himself and the camera. The movie overall plays clearly as an independent movie, with a veteran going through the motions of an ordinary citizen, but yet carriage a weighted pack of turmoil, confused emotions, and likely a lot of PTSD, which the movie avoids diving deeper into this realm, the darker reason of what his involvement is with Diane.

This movie never makes it into the thriller category, and absolutely no possible inclusion to the horror genre, a little haunting from a ghost, just doesn’t work effectively enough, especially unable to generate the willies, creeps, or even goosebumps, rather the horror and thriller fans, won’t find the shocks or blood. In fact, some might shrug their shoulders why even have the horror genre box checked, easy, it has a ghost, affecting Steve’s damaged mentality, after all the mind works to blank out bad memories and scars over the images which causes a downfall, therefore forgetting becomes the best one ever does in life.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3021984/

http://www.meantimeprod.com/diane/

IMDb Rating: 6.3/10

Baron’s Rating: 5.5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1RemM_Uil4