Filmed during the pandemic, set during contemporary times, “The Haunting of Hollywood” (2024) follows wannabe filmmaker, James (William Mann), and his aspiring actor girlfriend, Skyler Thompson (Stefanie Infante), as they set out to meet James’ best friend, struggling musician, Casey (David Lami Freibe), who is already in Los Angeles. As they try to settle in, strange things keep happening, and James does not disclose his real reason for wanting to return to Los Angeles: he wants to see his mother, Olivia (Tiffany Downey) again. Will that be possible?
“The Haunting of Hollywood” belongs to a genre that I call expressionist horror, which depicts real life fears as if they are supernatural or how the characters’ psychologically experience them, but otherwise has no pat explanation. In this case, the fear is that their dreams of fame and fortune will never come true, and they will be condemned to an eternal exercise in futility of trying to make the big time, gradually losing their souls as they submerge themselves into their roles and forced to haunt an inhospitable place far from home. The reference to “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) is deliberate and frequent. It should have been clearer whether the trio are living in the same apartment as Olivia when she left her humble abode to make it big in the City of Angels. While first time feature filmmaker Lilia Doytchinova has a solid concept, the execution ultimately does not work for a variety of reasons.
Mostly consisting of flashbacks, the opening shots show viewers what is on James’ mind: his childhood memories of becoming a filmmaker to help his mom prepare for auditions. The most powerful relationship in “The Haunting of Hollywood” is between the narcissistic mother and son. Instead of Olivia raising him, James existed to serve her aspirations to become a star., and British actor Peg Entwistle inspired the character of Olivia. James appears to be a crossroads between taking a step towards his future, i.e. taking the next step in his relationship with Skyler, versus feeling as if his mother’s voice is omnipresent though she is not there. A ring is emblematic of this turning point. It once belonged to his mother as a sign that she would return to him after allegedly temporarily moving to LA, but also could be an engagement ring. Like his mother, he is drawn to the Hollywood Sign, and her voice is like a siren calling him to it. Is it Olivia’s ghost or the demon of fame disguising its voice as a loved one to lure in another victim. The abuse scenes are consistently enlightening, especially the idea of a parent’s voice haunting a child even if it is one that should be exorcised. If that aspect of the story appeals to you, also watch “A Place Among the Dead” (2020), which is a stronger movie and would make an excellent double feature.
Because a narcissist’s child is not allowed to have a reality outside their emotionally immature parent lest it be construed as a challenge thus risking punishment, it is hard to get a sense of James as a standalone character. Being a well-defined, unique individual is not permitted; however, to be fair, the same problem plagues Casey, who just seems angry and frustrated that unlike James, he has not found a way to balance art with life, and Skyler, who comes from a normal family who does not approve of James. Other than theoretically, it is hard to get invested in a group of characters’ fate if they are underwritten and generic, especially at the point when no one should trust James anymore on their way to the Hollywood Sign. Casey and Skyler are more individuated once James takes a back seat, but just when they get interesting, the story ends. Either eliminating the supporting characters altogether or elevating them so they feel like equals to James’ past could have tightened up the story.
Visually, there is an insufficient amount of stillness. The number of close ups and disorienting Dutch angles are excessive. The editing rarely lets the eye rest on one subject. The timeline jumps help ground the underlying portent but should have gradually increased as they approached the Hollywood sign instead of ramped up from the opening. It does not give the film time to build up to a crescendo and creates a given, one-note, doomed vibe throughout. There is nowhere to go, and it becomes easy to miss some neat moments like James seeing his mother in his rearview window. It would have helped if the story started before James became obsessed with his past so viewers could get a sense of who he was before he unravels then decide whether to show the film from his point of view. If the point is that the lid was never tight on his jar, that was unclear. The coolest part of “The Haunting of Hollywood” is comparing their Los Angeles apartment neighbors before and after the trip to the Hollywood Sign, but it is too late, and there is nothing to do with it afterwards.
There is virtually no silence in “The Haunting of Hollywood.” Whether it is the soundtrack, Olivia’s voice haunting James, distorting voices or the quotidian, banal dialogue, there is no room to process or just let viewers feel without being told how to feel about any given moment. It is an easy error to rectify in the future, but the underlying impulse could be harder to overcome. While it is important to convey a message to audiences, filmmakers should also trust their audience and give them some breathing room.
Once the group reaches the Hollywood Sign, “The Haunting of Hollywood” begins to borrow huge swaths out of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) playbook complete with found footage elements, getting lost and a sudden disappearance, but again it does not work. The pacing is off, and suddenly switching to the characters’ cameras’ footage is not evocative and unsettling just frustrating and unclear. Because it is the only point in the film when it is impossible to tell what it is going on, and it could be explained away as an acid trip gone wrong, it feels more like filler though arguably it is supposed to be the film’s focal point.
Ari Aster’s films seem to inspire Doytchinova. A James Dean impersonator (Christian Rayce) makes the same strange mouth noises that Charlie does in “Hereditary” (2018). Taking drugs before embarking on a trip which results in reconnecting with deceased family is a theme in “Midsommar” (2019).
The narrative is not strictly chronological and often jumps around. Filmmakers with more experience lack clarity when they dare to leap across time and mix it with delusions. Doytchinova manages to not make the story confusing. First time filmmakers make mistakes and should not be expected to hit the ground running. While “The Haunting of Hollywood” would needs a lot of work, it has enough going for it that Doytchinova should keep reaching for her dreams though perhaps learn a few lessons from her main character to avoid overreaching. Stay until the end credits finish for a little saucy farewell from the true protagonist of the film.
