Ghostkeeper (1981)

**_Effective snowy setting with haunting mood, but vacuous story_** Celebrating New Years in the Alberta Rockies, three snowmobilers are forced to spend the night at a mountain hotel that’s been defunct for five years. “Ghost Keeper” (1981) was the precursor to similar horror flicks, like the soon-to-come “Curtains” and, especially, “Chill Factor” and “Shadow Lake.” Unfortunately, it’s the least of these. The first half is promising enough, but the second half just sort of fizzles out. The director explained that he shot it in chronological order, but the production started to run out of money half way through. Rather than putting the kibosh on it, he forsook the remaining script and made things up as they went along with the intention of at least holding on to the creepy wintry atmosphere. He accomplished this but, since the most notable scenes in the original script took place in the second half, and they now lacked the funds to keep the guy playing the titular ‘ghost,’ the film just doesn’t capitalize on its promise. Brunette Riva Spier as Jenny works well as the somewhat brooding protagonist whereas Murray Ord’s character comes across as a cocky SOB. Blonde Sheri McFadden as Chrissy brings zest to the proceedings, but her character is too loose for my tastes. It runs 1 hour, 23 minutes, and was shot in Lake Louise, Alberta, which is a 2-hour drive west of Calgary and 35 miles northwest of Banff. GRADE: C