Pulpmovies Reviews

The Wanderer is the sort of film that I really would have liked to have enjoyed more. The acting is solid and the score does give this ghost story a suitably creepy atmosphere.

What’s more, the opening credits give us a grainily tantalising glimpse of some violent event, and everything is set up rather nicely.

Then we get into the film itself, which opens with a funeral for Sarah (Erika Smith) who, despite appearing to be a happy well-adjusted young woman in the flashbacks, can only manage two mourners. The mourners are her two best friends – Gina (Taya Asimos) and Lucy (Liz DiPrinzio) – and, as the film starts, Father O’Neal (Cliff Poche) is winding up the service.

The two women start heading for home. And then it’s night and they’re still driving.

I know I’m being picky here but this sort of thing really jerks me out of the film. And it’s unnecessary. While I recognise that it’s suitably atmospheric to set a ghost story at night, it’s not an obligation and if the characters set off in the early afternoon, suddenly jumping to midnight simply doesn’t work.

But back to the plot.

A young woman steps out in front of the car, forcing an emergency stop. Her dark hair hangs in front of her face – reminiscent, more than anything of Sadako in Ringu – slightly obscuring her features. And this brings me to my real problem with this film.

It is painfully obvious who this young woman is, but both Gina and Lucy completely fail to recognise her. The result is that you find yourself impatiently waiting for the inevitable twist and, more seriously, not really caring about any of the characters.

It’s a shame because there is a good story in here, but it’s buried under an overly conventional narrative structure.

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