Spoilers leave the party the second the ouija board comes out.

I think horror films that use the war subgenre can be pretty effective. They’re periods of history in which the human concepts of good and evil were tested. With life and death scenarios playing every day, it’s not that much of a reach to consider the veil between the living and the departed to become rather thin. Furthermore, demonizing the enemy is propaganda 101 in times of war (and sometimes in times of peace too).

(Credit: Shudder)

Brooklyn 45 (2023) is written and directed by Ted Geoghegan. Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden) has summoned his war veteran buddies Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsay), Major Archibald Stanton (Jeremy Holm) and Major Paul DiFranco (Ezra Buzzington) after his wife Susan committed suicide. Marla’s husband and odd man out Bob Sheridan (Ron E. Rains) obliges reluctantly to come along. But what their dear friend Clive has in mind is an outlandish request. He wants to conduct a seance to talk to the spirit of his late wife. And he’s not letting anybody leave until he gets his wish.

What transpires is a strange but entertaining evening of supernatural encounters as their friend has arranged for their friends to face a unique moral conundrum. To this end, the group of friends will be forced to remain just to discover that the old Lieutenant Colonel has kidnapped a neighbor whom his wife suspected to be a Nazi. A german woman named Hildegard Baumann (Kristina Klebe) will face judgement by both the living and the dead.

You might believe that enough time has passed since the days of World War Two to think the paranoia about Nazis in our mists and citizens passing judgement on each other is long gone. But with the rise and normalization of radicalism and extremism, we can recognize the current relevance of moral dilemmas from days gone by. Also interesting here, is how afterlife is not depicted as making the souls of the dead any wiser than they were when alive.

It works for the right audiences. Shades of grey affect both the living and dead, and before the evening is done lives, legends and relationships will be broken. Nobody wins, just a few get to survive with a few more nightmares to sleep through. You don’t have to even consider who was in the right or the wrong. It was just a matter of making it to the end, just the like the old war days. The palette and cinematography both fit the time period and the theme.

Highly recommended as an interesting oddity for the right audience. It won’t be everybody’s choice of drink and some of the younger audiences might not feel the gravity of the war times. Solid piece of acting by the main cast specially Anne Ramsay and Jeremy Holm. Worth a watch if you’re in the mood to try something new from days past.

That will do for now.