I've discovered a new litmus test for discovering great modern noir films: If Michael Rooker is in it, it's going to be something unique. I was blown away by his performance and the stark production value in HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, and again in his interpretation of the character Fritz Brown in the film adaptation of James Ellroy's first novel, BROWN'S REQUIEM. So when I saw a DVD of Kyle Dean Jackson's film, CHASING GHOSTS, with Michael Madsen, Gary Busey AND Michael Rooker in the cast for $3 I went with my gut and bought it. The guys who put this film together are noir enthusiasts and they knew exactly what they wanted and they had the same kind of budget the old noir films had so they did a lot with the camera and lighting to make the scene work instead of relying on stunts and locations. This is an action story with a really deep, twisted plot about a undercover cop, Rooker, who disappeared years earlier, and Madsen, apparently a friend
of his family's but who's undercover in the other direction. And then there's the real undercover agent who's very hard to see coming. I won't go into too many details because I don't want to ruin the story, but this is a great noir film with a phenomenal cast. It seems to me that its very unusual to see a film with a well constructed plot line now. This is a really good story.
Patrick King
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