Adam Rodness and Stu Stone want to make sure that you really Don’t F**k with Ghosts.
In Don’t F**k with Ghosts, we meet filmmakers Rodness and Stone (playing themselves) as they are pitching their next big film. However, when their idea for a movie about Bigfoot falls flat, they are asked to pivot their direction to make a film about ghosts. Although neither of the men are self-professed believers, they accept the challenge and set out in search of real haunted houses and the alleged ghost that make them their home.
Produced by Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Productions, Don’t F**k with Ghosts is a hilarious experiment in other-worldly comedy. With Ghosts, Rodness and Stone offer a film that is feels both authentic and funny as these two men bumble through the haunted world of Winnipeg. The humour is bold and the scenes are peppered with nonsense. But the banter between the two men makes them endearing.
But the film becomes so much funnier when you realize that its (almost) entirely improvised. This is the horror equivalent of Who’s Line is it Anyway?, a ‘place where everything’s made up and the [ghosts] don’t matter’. In Ghosts, Rodness and Stone have crafted scenes yet truly give the moment over to those involved. Celebrities enter into the arena completely unaware that they’re involved in a film of this nature. Scenes involving actual paranormal experts show them respect yet pivot quickly if/when nothing happens. (“If this were a scripted movie, this would be when something amazing would happen,” we’re told.) Even their crew only have a ‘bare bones’ understanding of what’s going to happen in the moment.
It’s worth noting though that Rodness and Stone never directly mock their participants for their beliefs either. While the scenes are definitely comedic in tone, they never turn the laughs against their participants. While they may (or may not) be skeptics themselves, this is not a film to make fun of those who believe in ghosts. In Ghosts, there’s a genuine openness to the paranormal that seems embedded within the film. It’s not that Ghosts insists on the reality of the ghost realm. Instead, it recognizes the power of the beliefs of others.
And, even if they don’t say it, they do admit that they want to believe.
In doing so, Rodness and Stone have created something akin to comedic jazz. Together, the two of them bounce off each other with playful seriousness. They know each other’s rhythms and weave in and out of each other’s scenes with utter silliness. In other words, there’s joy in their chaos that makes the film work.
To be fair though, this is the sort of broad comedy that doesn’t lean into the depth of its meaning. And that’s perfectly okay. Ghosts is outlandish, inane and glorious in moments. Even in the film’s over-the-top (and scripted) climax, there’s something absolutely enjoyable about these two paranormal goofballs that makes the film worth your attention. And maybe, like Rodness and Stone, you’ll want to believe too.
Don’t F**k with Ghosts is available on VOD on October 29th, 2024.
