Multihyphenate Graham Skipper returns to the Chattanooga Film Festival with his newest feature The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine– a post-apocalyptic tale about loss, isolation, and creepy crawly monsters that eat humans for dinner. Indie fans will no doubt remember Skipper’s Cronenbergian Body Horror mindf*ck Sequence Break (2017), and while The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine is definitely less…uh….gooey than his previous work, it’s still wickedly weird. And best of all, you can watch it right now as part of the CFF’s Virtual Fest, running straight through to June 28!
“The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…” -Fredric Brown
Expanding on the that classic two sentence terror, The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine tells the story of Wozzeck (played by Skipper), the last living person on Earth. Some years ago “a great calamity” brought about the end of life as we know it. While creatures fell from the skies above, devouring everything living thing in sight, Wozzeck and his wife Nellie (Christina Bennett Lind) found refuge in an isolated cabin home. For a while their existence was peaceful but tragedy struck one day, and Wozzeck became the loneliest number that you ever knew.
In a desperate attempt to rebuild the life he had lost, Wozzeck began construction on a Ghost Machine to commune with his late wife and maybe one day bring her back from the land of the dead. Every night he summons her spirit, but every night he fails to make any meaningful contact with her. Of course, just as things are starting to look promising, a stranger comes knocking. And my, what big eyes they have. And what big teeth! All the better to eat him with….
“…examines the nature of existence and those inescapable, existential fears that haunt us all.”
The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine is a very non glamourous portrayal of grief and separation. Will Smith still managed to make living alone look cool in I Am Legend but Wozzeck is poisoned with sadness. Skipper himself described the film to the Chattanooga Film Festival audience as a deeply personal story, and one that allowed him to work through some of his own darkest moments. Wozzeck isn’t just the last man left alive, he’s the last living anything on the planet. Of course, with the help of his mysterious stranger, Wozzeck helps to examine the nature of existence and those inescapable, existential fears that haunt us all. If you like unsettling conversations about oblivion, set your coordinates for this lo-fi creeper.
Writer/Director/Producer/Actor/Musical Theatre Nerd/Self-Diagnosed HP Lovecraft Obsessive Graham Skipper is one of the more interesting filmmakers hustling a living out in Hollywood today. Beyond his Rated-R Horror Speakeasy events in LA and his portrayal of Herbest West in Stuart Gordan’s Re-Animator: The Musical, Skipper has been a fixture in the indie horror community for over a decade. Making movies with his friends and occasionally pooling together enough cash to get a picture of his own to the finish line, Skipper is the horror kid who made good story we all hope for.
In The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine Skipper takes on so many roles it’s hard to figure out what he didn’t do on the movie. Some of that is, of course, out of necessity but that indie spirit of rolling up your sleeves and doing it yourself is what has kept each of his movies uniquely his own. Appearing in nearly every single scene, almost exclusively by himself, Skipper carries the feature from start to finish, making pit stops along the way to interact with the haunting horrors swirling around Wozzeck. Using color and black & white photography, as well as creative spaces for dialogue in this mostly one-man-show, Skipper manages to make a low-budget, single-location thriller feels as cosmic and epic as a Lovecraft story. A Lovecraft story with some toilet humor ’cause why not, right?
“A low-budget, single-location chiller that feels as cosmic and epic as a classic Lovecraft story.”
There may not be tentacles blocking out the sun or showstopping battle sequences that rip apart the fabric of reality but within the tiny cabin that this story is set, life, the universe, and everything hang in the balance. These three characters comprise the entirety of the movie and its scariest moments are the deep dark conversations between Wozzeck and his unseen visitor. The Ghost Machine almost becomes a blip on the radar as they discuss the eradication of the entire human race but it’s an integral pillar in the triangle of these character’s relationship.
It’s a really strong piece of sci-fi/horror storytelling and one doesn’t disappoint. It might be a little bare bones for some viewers, but for anyone that appreciates good ghost story or a tragic tale of misfortune, The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine is a stripped-down creeper for anyone currently tailgating the apocalypse with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a stack of scary movies.
Graham Skipper’s The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine celebrated its World Premiere at the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival. Click HERE to follow out continued coverage of the fest and let us know if you’re excited to see this one for yourself over in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord!
