Ghost Burger

****

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Ghost Burger
"Ghost Burger defies expectations by delivering a continually entertaining tale."

Two cousins enjoy their time together, hanging out and playing games. One night, when the moon is full, they mess around with a curse. But when things go wrong and a ghost turns up, the boys don't panic as horror film characters are supposed to do. Instead they shoot the ghost and it falls to the floor, a limp white plasticine lump.

What do you do if you've just shot a ghost? If you're that age, you worry about being in trouble. Mincing it up into burger meat initially seems like a good way to hide the body, but then, as is the way with these things, the 'burger blanc' becomes a craze that could save Dad's ailing restaurant, and the boys are instructed in no uncertain terms to "Get me more of that white meat."

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It's a cute premise that could easily result in a one joke movie but Ghost Burger defies expectations by delivering a continually entertaining tale. Every genre cliché gets a look in but looks a little different in claymation. Throughout, the boys are intensely likeable and grounded, their earnestness belying the ridiculousness of the story. Much strange behaviour is excused by the fact we see the action from their perspective - after all, adults are always doing inexplicable things.

Squeamish types should be aware that this is one of the goriest films to come out of the UK in years, so if plasticine innards freak you out, don't go there. Its horror scenes are gloriously inventive. There's the crude humour you'd expect from a director who contributed T Is For Toilet to The ABCs Of Death, but there's also a love of colour and a real visual flair. This is horror at its most creative and fun, delighting in its own silliness. A treat.

Reviewed on: 24 Oct 2013
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Two boys hide the corpse of a ghost by making it into burger meat but find themselves in trouble when the new 'burger blanc' becomes a craze.

Director: Lee Hardcastle

Writer: Lee Hardcastle

Starring: Tim Atkins, Dominic Brunt, Ant Hardcastle, Lee Hardcastle, Nacho Vigalondo

Year: 2013

Runtime: 23 minutes

Country: UK

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