Ghost in the Machine (film)

This article is about the 1993 horror film. For other uses, see Ghost in the Machine (disambiguation).

Ghost in the Machine
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rachel Talalay
Produced by	Paul Schiff
Written by	William Davies William Osborne
Starring	Karen Allen Chris Mulkey Ted Marcoux
Music by	Graeme Revell
Cinematography	Phil Meheux
Editing by	Janice Hampton Erica Huggins
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 29, 1993 (1993-12-29)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million
Box office	$5,086,909

Ghost in the Machine (also known as Deadly Terror) is a 1993 horror/science fiction film directed by Rachel Talalay and released by 20th Century Fox.

Plot

A serial killer named Karl Hochman (Ted Marcoux) is known as the "address book killer", due to his habit of stealing the address books of various people, from which he chooses his potential victims. While he is working at a computer store, he obtains the address book of Terry Munroe (Karen Allen), after another employee demonstrates how a scanner works by scanning a page of her address book into the computer. After this, Karl leaves work, however he is nearly killed by a head-on collision with a truck. At the emergency room, he is placed in a MRI machine, when a surge, caused by an electrical storm, transfers his mind into a computer. As a network-based entity he plots to continue his killing spree, using the electrical grid, appliances, and the computer network.

Because a page of Terry's address book was scanned into the computer, Karl manages to obtain the page and begins to go through the list to kill off her friends. Her co-worker, Frank Mallory (Richard McKenzie), becomes his first victim by making it look like he died in an electrical fire. Elliot Kastner (Jack Laufer), her friend that works at the DMV, gets burned to death after a hand dryer becomes a flamethrower. His third victim is a babysitter, Carol Maibaum, who dies after both a television and dishwasher explode in a kitchen. When the police do not believe the story about Karl continuing his killing spree even though he is dead, Terry's son, Josh (Wil Horneff), realizes that there is an order to the list of victims. Terry's mother visits, and it is during this time that Terry and computer hacker Bram Walker (Chris Mulkey) unplug anything electrical in the house.

The police receive anonymous reports of an armed robbery, a hostage situation, domestic violence, and a murder pointing to Terry's house. They open fire on the house after mistaking an exploding generator for a gunshot. Noticing what they have done, they cease fire. Terry's mother gets shot in the process, putting her in the hospital. Aided by Bram, however, they manage to fight back and defeat Karl by introducing a computer virus that traps him at a physics laboratory. Karl is then forced to escape. They then proceed to activate an atom smasher which draws Karl in and destroys him after Terry uses a revolver on him. The film ends with Bram telling Terry to turn off a heart monitor in an ambulance.

Cast

• Karen Allen as Terry Munroe
• Chris Mulkey as Bram Walker
• Ted Marcoux as Karl Hochman
• Wil Horneff as Josh Munroe
• Jessica Walter as Elaine Spencer
• Brandon Quintin Adams as Frazer
• Rick Ducommun as Phil Stewart
• Jack Laufer as Elliott Kastner
• Shevonne Durkin as Carol Maibaum
• Richard McKenzie as Frank Mallory
• Richard Schiff as Scanner technician
• Nancy Fish as Landlord

Production

The film was shot in Los Angeles in color with Dolby SR sound^{[citation needed]}.

Reception

Ghost in the Machine was not generally well received by most critics; on Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 13% "Rotten" rating. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $1,854,431 and ranked at #10, the only opening that weekend that made it into the top 10. By the end of its run, it had grossed a domestic total of $5,086,909. The film is considered a box office failure since the budget was $12 million.

External links

• Ghost in the Machine at the Internet Movie Database
• Ghost in the Machine at AllRovi
• Ghost in the Machine at Box Office Mojo
• Ghost in the Machine at Rotten Tomatoes