Just What is Behind the 19 Doors?: A Movie Review

Director: Bruce Koehler.

Writer: Jacqueline Druga.

Cast: Bail Natalie, Norm Wash and Bryan Koehler.

19 Doors is like one of those early Stephen King tales where it tries to go for developing the mood first and creating the frights second. The small community feel certainly does exist within this film. But when Grace Mitchell (Bail Natalie) decides to settle in at a hundred year old hotel to conduct some on-site research for a screenplay, she has to contend with the locals and the establishment's sordid past. The list includes a possible miner forty-niner, a dapper priest and two etheric young girls.

The frights are low caliber and the movie does not rise above the potential that it sets itself up for. When Mitchell starts to finally look around at the old Lyndora Hotel, a few revelations are made. She learns that it is still being used as a brothel, but was she looking at the hotel's past or dealing with the present? The ghosts she encounters are more like historical details of what happened. But her curiousity for needing answers does not get underway until much later.

None of what Mitchell sees really tie in until Detective Patrone (John W. Iwanonkiw) finds the unconscious Grace the morning after. She had a fright, and he thinks she may be able to provide some answers.

This movie does have the makings to be like an Agatha Christie novel, but it does not have the in-depth development that's needed to go that far. Given the length of this film, this product is more like "Murder, She Wrote." Mitchell has to turn detective if she is to solve what's going on, and the people she has to deal with are hardly distrusting about her activities. Sadly, that does not also include the priest, Father Pat Mulligan (Norm Wash), who seems to be a bit dodgy himself.

But when she has a few prophetic dreams, maybe writer Jacqueline Druga is injecting a bit of a fondness for another television series, "Medium," into the foray. Unlike the classic formula used in these two series, this movie is structured a bit differently. At least fifteen minutes could have been knocked out of this movie to tighten the focus of what 19 Doors is about. More emphasis between Mitchell and the Mulligan would have made for a more interesting film than the mystery of who the tall old man is. And while answers of who these ghosts are not always needed, one revelation could have helped. Just what does “19 Doors” mean?

The old hotel has nineteen doors and Mitchell did decide to go counting them to verify that fact. Now, if there were only eighteen, or if she found a twentieth, to go about trying to explain why the count is off would have been far more interesting. Maybe there is a mystery door that leads to a hidden room that will answer all, but there is none with this film.

Instead, the only answers that are found are in how Mitchell is fully drawn to trying to uncover the building’s dark past. Everyone else does not seem to matter, including the relationship she has with her husband and daughter. They do not get an enough screen time to make audiences understand her as a mom.

Another struggle is with the uneven acting from the supporting cast. There are times where the minor characters seem to be reading off of cue cards. Some of them are just missing an element to make their performances feel real. And that is especially strange when a handful of these performers have a background in theatre.

For the price of admission, viewers may be asking for their money back. Some disc owners may feel jaded at buying this video at full-price. At a dollar store, at least buying it there will not break anyone's bank. That’s what old misers would have done.

Overall: 5 out of 10.

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Posted in: 2012,fantasy horror movie review,independent,indie,movie review