Fingerprints

Introduction

Whilst she was in rehab, Melanie's parents moved to a new town, Emerald, with her older sister Crystal.  Starting at a new school where her whereabouts have been accidentally leaked and spread around the entire student population proves to be difficult, as does coming to terms with the interference of the student counsellor and her aggressively strict mother.  Her father though, is more loving and makes up for the lack of a computer by giving her a cell phone, telling her not to tell her mother.
 
50 years earlier, shown as a prologue, a bus-full of young children was killed when the signals failed and it was hit by a speeding freight train.  There is a legend that, if you park your car by the tracks and put it in neutral, it will mysteriously move across to the other side.  One night Melanie, Crystal and two of their friends Penn (the hot boy) and Mitch (the idiotic arsehole) try it out and Melanie sees a young girl in white clothing standing on the tracks.  All except Melanie are a bit drunk, on their way back from a party and Mitch is driving because his uncle is the Chief of Police and is the only one who wouldn't get stopped.  He decides not just to stop by the tracks, but on them and only drives away at the last moment when a train approaches, but Melanie sees the young girl run away at the last moment.
 
Overdosing on heroin whilst in rehab (her boyfriend died) has obviously opened her doors of perception and she realises she can see the ghosts of those who died, having spoken to Julie, the young girl, and even lent her Crystal's coat because she was cold.  Something tells her that there's a reason she can see the spirits and something isn't right with the official explanation of what happened that fateful night.  Whilst she investigates and finds Julie's sister Mary, a figure dressed in black with white gloves is busy killing townsfolk who are connected to the past.
 

 

Video

An impressive picture with good black levels and very good ghost effects - when called for, the gore and violence are up to standard but this is more of a suspense story with the odd shock.
 

Audio

You have the choice of DD 5.1 Surround or 2.0 Stereo and obviously the former is the better, providing much more atmosphere and the shocks with more effect.  It is a clear soundtrack and the dialogue is easy to make out, which is for the best, as there are no subtitles to help.  There's a nice mix of scored and sourced music, which help to build and release tension whilst keeping social scenes realistic with the sort of music that would be playing.
 

 

Extra Features

The back of the box claims to have all sorts, including a commentary, but all you get is a piece where members of the cast and crew give personal stories about what scares them and a Making Of which is pretty thorough, covering most bases and running at 18 minutes.  So, not great, but not bad either.
 

 

Conclusion

I wasn't sure what to expect from this as there are so many ghost stories and films that revolve around a tragedy from the past or a character who can see things others can't, but this blends the two quite well into an effective chiller.
 
Leah Pipes, who plays Melanie, gives a solid and understated performance, only really breaking free when you'd expect her to, in scenes where your heart rate ups a little.  The little-known supporting cast also impress, though some are really playing 'cookie cutter' characters: the tender guy with a traumatic past (Penn) or the annoying jock who relies on family contacts to stay out of jail (Mitch).
 
This isn't the most groundbreaking of horrors and it does follow some conventions fairly closely but there are several red herrings around to keep you guessing as to the identity of the killer until fairly late on in the picture and enough shocks and tense moments to make this worth a watch.