"Ghost Wars"

(New Series/SyFy) Watched the pilot for SyFy's newest series "Ghost Wars" last night, and felt compelled to write a review. Having sat through all the increasingly-rancid Sharknado films (among other SyFy gems), being another SyFy Production I didn't have much hope for this series - but am a HUGE Avan Jogia fan (he's genuinely underrated as an actor, actually), plus figured if Vincent D'Onofrio was on-board as well, the script/production had to have something going for it!

And boy, was I pleasantly surprised by a spooky, effective, well-acted, nicely-written, and intriguing pilot with a WAY-cool cliffhanger ending that left me hungry for episode two. Even the special effects, usually laughable with SyFy's in-house productions, were a step up here; in fact, had SpikeTV (another network known for B-movie-level productions) put this kind of effort of quality into "The Mist" and given it a decent cast, better writing and believable effects, that series (which truly was rancid) might have made it to season two.

Jogia is Roman Mercer, the social outcast of Port Moore (a small, remote Alaskan town) mostly thanks to his mother (who's long-since taken off) and her long-term obsession with the paranormal. Roman sees ghosts, and wants to seriously see the back end of Port Moore - this town that's treated him like crap his whole life - as well; the pilot opens with him at a bus station waiting to leave for good, even as he confides his plans (or lack thereof) to a friend who, herself, ends up being a ghost only he can see.

A freak accident keeps Roman from leaving, however - and in fact gets him blamed for a few deaths of his fellow passengers, partially thanks to local weirdo Doug Rennie (Meat Loaf Aday, no less!) and a makeshift posse out for revenge. But there are also residents - human ones - sympathetic to Roman's plight and the burdens he's carried since childhood (including D'Onofrio's Father Carpenter, who himself seems to have a few secrets - or demons - inside), and as the spirits reveal themselves more, taking on a malevolence that results in more lives lost, the residents of Port Moore left standing must face one heck of a realization: not only are they cut off from the world with some seriously pissed-off ghosts ... but their only salvation may lie in the hands of the one person they've persecuted and mistrusted since birth: Roman Mercer.

I feel the need to watch the pilot again - it's very dark in spots (literally, as in the lighting), and there were a couple times I was a bit confused with what I had just seen or heard going on - but in terms of acting, writing, story, tone, atmosphere, effects, violence, and truly holding your interest, the pilot of "Ghost Wars" was a treat, with many secrets and spookiness only hinted at so far. Hopefully things will only get cooler and creepier from here.  8/10 stars