Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I find it frustrating that so often truly great independent genre films are poorly reviewed on IMDb or Amazon because they fail to follow the genre conventions established in Hollywood films.For example, if "horror" to you means violence, blood, and gore--especially torture, rape, and exploding genitalia--then this film is not a horror movie. Similarly, if "sci-fi" to you means aliens, patriotic/ military subtext, and tentacle sex, then this film utterly fails as a science fiction film. Finally, if by character development or depth you mean something like protagonist A starts out as a good guy but eventually eats kittens or love interest B starts out as the girl-next-door but is revealed to be an S&M dominatrix by the third reel, then these characters are neither very well developed or sufficiently deep. However, while there is nothing wrong with people making or enjoying popcorn-munching, lowest-common-denominator genre films, there is another way to make great, entertaining films.Phasma Ex Machina takes that other approach delivering believable responses from believable characters to unbelievable events. Suspend your disbelief and ask yourself if you'd really want the love of your life returned from the dead or your grand-daughter resurrected after twenty years? Ghost from the Machine succeeds in exploring how real people might learn real answers to these and other questions without descending into moralizing or allegory. Similarly, it succeeds in being genuinely creepy--and even frightening--without resorting to fake blood and orchestration-based jump scares. The film succeeds at these goals largely because its actors and locations aren't the usual Hollywood caricatures. The relationships depicted might strike us as underdeveloped or thin specifically in that they resist any attempts to hit us over the head with their supposed "depth." The events seem real even while the premise is spectacularly unlikely precisely because these characters inhabit a believable universe not dissimilar to our own.Yes, the sex scene is awkward to the point of making us look away, but much like The Sessions (2012), it is so because it lacks the normal Hollywood glitter and slickness. Yes, the machine is merely a macguffin that occasions an exploration of real loss and tragedy. Yes, the inclusion of the former-pedophile-who-ran-a-daycare--and just happens to have lived in your house--subplot seems to push the limits of coincidence. However, even this can be overlooked if you are willing to admit that every house has probably had somebody distasteful living in it at some time or another in the past. If you want to be genuinely frightened, abandon your tinsel-town preconceptions and check out this great film.

There are a number of reviews smashing this movie-- mostly due to unmet expectations of normal Hollywood Horror. Worse, some people may be expecting it to be a modern remake on a Lovecraftian idea of a Machine that could open a gate to the 'Beyond'. If you're expecting a 'Re-animator' clone-- it's NOT. It's totally different.It's a Ghost story that really runs like a Drama. And it's bareboned. It's done ENTIRELY without special effects. The 'Creep' is in the actors' situations alone. The Ghosts are a Dramatic Question...and the Question behind ALL Ghost stories is a Fundamental one posed: "Is it RIGHT for the Dead to come back to the Living?"It's Not about whether 'The Dead Hate the Living' or 'Evil Spirits being unleashed' or 'Curses from beyond the Grave'This movie is about what happens if you refuse to Let go. What happens if you actually bring the Dead Back into your Life when the World has already closed the books on their Lives.A young man loses his parents, and seeks to undo their Deaths by bringing them back with a machine. But the World and Life really has no place or order for things that 'Should not be'. Bad things will happen.Not Supernatural Bad Things...Just Inadvertent things. Unpleasant things. Irrevocable things.As an indie/Non-Hollywood effort-- this one gets a solid round of applause from me. The acting was decent and heartfelt. And the timing was good with tension and build-up. And the ending was a solid moral stamp: You can't change What Was.This is an intelligent indie/drama flick is good for a late, rainy weekend afternoon. And if you like it...it's also a Girl-friend Test.

Where to begin...It's tremendously boring, the characters don't make any sense and have no depth AT ALL, it's LESS scary than a carton of milk on which you can't locate the expiration date. I couldn't tell if the actors were awful or their performances were awful because the script sucked so hard that they had nothing to work with. It's exceptionally inappropriate to call this a sci-fi/horror film as it's labeled on netflix. It's like calling Requiem For A Dream a romantic comedy.The only thing sci-fi about it is that there is a machine. A very uninteresting machine and the only depth given to it is that it enhances or maybe generates electromagnetic radiation because...uh ghosts or something. The only thing that was remotely horror was that the main character's house use to be occupied by a couple who owned a day care and did... something? I guess the guy murdered his wife. That story element seemed to be just randomly thrown in so they could label it a horror film. Their story is never explained and has virtually nothing to do with the plot. You are never given any reason why they should be scary. Their just a couple of creepy looking grandparents. That's it. Oh and they're only on screen for maybe all of 5 minutes.Which brings me to the thing about this film that motivated me to write this review: If this movie were only 10 or 15 minutes long I'd probably not like it but I wouldn't hate it. No, this thudingly dull movie wastes an hour, A WHOLE F^%$^%ING HOUR, before ANYTHING happens at all that starts to move the story forward.

Have you ever stood completely still in your house and felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, or felt a sudden burst of chilled air in an otherwise warm room? Maybe what you are feeling isn't just a random altering of sensations, but rather a supernatural occurrence correlating to electronic emissions in power lines in and around your house.Now, what would happen if say, you were an expert electrician whose knowledge of all things electrical is equaled only by your passion to resurrect your recently deceased parents by means of something resembling a large home stereo? You don't need a degree in electrical engineering to know that going against nature or bringing back something – especially through the use of science – you're not supposed to will and can only end badly. Lest we forget the lessons learned in Jurassic Park? Speaking of Spielberg's dinosaurs, it's no spoiler to say that director Matt Osterman's Phasma Ex-Machina doesn't have a T-Rex, a high speed chase, or even Jeff Goldblum for that matter. But what this film does have is an original ghost story script with just enough menacing moments to leave you with an eerie creeped out feeling when all is said and done. It also has a refreshing and more true-to-life (even in the supernatural realm in which it lives) ending seldom seen in bigger budgeted more conventionalized Hollywood type films. It would be interesting to see what this young filmmaker could do if given a bigger budget. I for one am looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer.