Ghost in the Machine Information

Ghost in the Machine (also known as Deadly Terror) is a 1993 American horror/science fiction film directed by Rachel Talalay and released by 20th Century Fox.

Plot

A serial killer named Karl Hochman (Ted Marcoux) is known as the "address book killer", due to his habit of stealing the address books and choosing his next victims from them. While he is working at a computer store, he obtains the address book of Terry Munroe (Karen Allen), after another employee, demonstrating a scanner, copies a page of her address book into the computer. Heading home that evening Karl is nearly killed by a collision with a truck. In the emergency room, he is placed in a MRI machine, when a surge from an electrical storm transfers his mind into a computer. Now a network-based entity, Karl still plots his killing spree, using the electrical grid, various appliances and computer networks.

Karl opens the scanned page from Terry's address book and begins killing the names listed. Her co-worker, Frank Mallory (Richard McKenzie), is the first victim when he dies in an electrical fire. Another friend, Elliot Kastner (Jack Laufer) is burned to death when a hand dryer becomes a flamethrower. Terry's babysitter, Carol Maibaum, is the third victim when she is caught between an exploding television and dishwasher in her kitchen. When the police do not believe the theory about Karl is on a killing spree after his death, Terry's son Josh (Wil Horneff), realizes the order in the list of victims. Terry and computer hacker Bram Walker (Chris Mulkey) unplug anything electrical in the house.

The police receive anonymous reports of an armed robbery, hostage situation, domestic violence, and a murder in progress, all at Terry's house. They open fire on the home after mistaking an exploding generator for gunfire. Eventually realizing their mistake, they cease fire. Terry's mother is shot during the siege and she goes to the hospital. Aided by Bram, Terry and Josh manage to defeat Karl by introducing a computer virus that traps him in a physics laboratory. They activate an atom smasher located in the lab, which draws Karl in and destroys him. The film ends with Bram telling Terry to turn off a heart monitor in an ambulance.

Cast

• Karen Allen as Terry Munroe
• Chris Mulkey as Bram Walker
• Ted Marcoux as Karl Hochman
• Wil Horneff as Josh Munroe
• Jessica Walter as Elaine Spencer
• Brandon Quintin Adams as Frazer
• Rick Ducommun as Phil Stewart
• Jack Laufer as Elliott Kastner
• Shevonne Durkin as Carol Maibaum
• Richard McKenzie as Frank Mallory
• Richard Schiff as Scanner technician
• Nancy Fish as Landlord

Production

The film was shot in Los Angeles in color with Dolby SR sound.

Reception

Ghost in the Machine was not generally well received by most critics; on Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 13% "Rotten" rating. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $1,854,431 and ranked at #10, the only opening that weekend that made it into the top 10. By the end of its run, it had grossed a domestic total of $5,086,909. The film is considered a box office failure since the budget was $12 million.