Movie Review: Delirium

credit: Delirium

The way this movie starts is enough to state that the use of the found footage style of filming is something that can come off as necessary or as a means of copying other movies. The effect in this movie, however, is enough to make a person feel that it’s not entirely useless, but it does kind of get used in a manner that feels like overkill. The fact that it’s used as a fraternity stunt, though, makes things a little easier to understand since the Hell Gang is out to pull a prank on their initiates, even when they have no intention of letting a person into their group. It’s the kind of unfair and juvenile idea that might cause a lot of people to state that it makes for a realistic story that has occurred in the real world, but the supernatural aspect of it does manage to up the stakes a bit and create something that could be called decent since even if it takes a while to get going, this movie isn’t exactly a low to no-budget flick that can be brushed off as someone’s attempt to get noticed. If anything, it’s a movie that can be archived and enjoyed at a later date, which makes it worthwhile and far easier to take as a serious attempt. 

credit: Delirium

The idea behind this movie is one that should appear unrealistic, but that’s not the case.

The angle that’s taken with the fraternity and their inability to be mature about the matter is easy to see in a lot of different movies since the fact is that as much as a fraternity might be a brotherhood, there are a lot of times when it still resembles a bunch of young adult males acting like irresponsible, immature kids who don’t know how to treat each other with even a small measure of dignity. The fact that they send a pledge off to a haunted mansion, which is part of the initiation, to stand on the front porch and stare out onto the property, is kind of ridiculous since, in the real world, it would be a great time to start trying out whatever pranks that the twisted minds of younger men could think up. But in the movie, it’s a time for the ghosts that live in the mansion to become active.  

The movie takes a while to get going, but it does try to build itself up. 

The suspense does tend to build in this movie, but it’s kind of a slow mover, and by the time things do manage to get going, it feels as though something should have happened much sooner. The opening to the movie does make it clear that the mansion isn’t a place that people should be visiting, but after the opening, the story undergoes a slow crawl until it finally starts to pick up, which is when the fraternity brothers finally enter the grounds in search of their missing initiate, only to find themselves locked in the mansion as weird things begin to happen. Once that part of the movie starts up, it becomes a little easier to keep watching since the expectations that the average moviegoer might have begun to bear at least some fruit. 

credit: Delirium

Once the movie does get going, the supernatural quality starts to kick in. 

The agitation shown by the ghosts in this movie is kind of a classic ghost story, especially when it comes to the idea that ghosts shouldn’t be messed with. The fact that this story owes a lot to a fraternity prank isn’t exactly a detriment, as it tends to bring something forth that might not have been present otherwise. There are a lot of different ways that this story could have gone down, but seeing those who were seeking to mess with someone get their comeuppance in such a gruesome fashion is kind of satisfying but in a guilty sort of way. The ghosts aren’t bound to be seen as protagonists in any way, but they are a sign that some folks believe in karmic justice on some level. 

This feels like a very familiar story with a slightly different look. 

Trying to point out how many ghost stories have used this narrative would take a while since there are a lot of movies out there that use this type of narrative and that have come up with a number of different ideas that are meant to be unique. But this movie does its own thing when showing how each person killed becomes a part of the household, another child for the woman who initially killed her own children and therefore began a legend that was mentioned but not really clung to in this feature. It’s not a bad ghost story, but it is one that might need to be kept around for a rainy day when there’s nothing else to watch.