The mysterious ghost lights of MARFA, Texas are the springboard for a new paranormal thriller. Named after the town itself, the film opens with a group of friends deciding to take a quick trip through the titular town only to be lured into a mystery involving ghost lights, pensive strangers in trench coats, and beloved horror icon Tony Todd as the town’s benevolent caretaker, Mayor Henry. This movie tries so hard, it really does. Sadly, all of the peculiarities of this deserted Texas town blended with a spooky storyline is marred with plodding pacing and heavy-handed writing that insists on telling not showing.

The four friends at the center of the story are Erik (Marcus Jahn), Eden (Brittany Jo Alvarado), Allie (Tracy Perez), and Matthew (Kyle Colton). Sailing through the Texas desert, the four hit the Terlingua cookoff, stop by a dusty gas station, and pick up Vincent the Hitchhiker (Stelio Savante). The five travelers decide to roll into the tiny town of Marfa where, it seems, the aforementioned hitchhiker is a resident and everyone knows him, including Mayor Henry. The four travelers decide to stay the night and check out the famed Ghost Lights of Marfa. Soon strange things begin to occur and the four decide to leave… in the morning. Will the morning ever come?

MARFA is a deeply flawed film but not without merit. We have the inspiring Texas landscape and the mysterious, real phenomenon of the Marfa Ghost Lights to soak in and we even get a rather poignant notion surrounding them. Too there is some absolutely beautiful photography by Olivia Kuan on display that truly captures to mystical look and feel of backroads, Texas. That said, we have to endure uneven pacing, strange asides, scenes that lead to nowhere, and a heavy dose of melodramatic performances that border on the absurd. For instance, Vincent the Hitchhiker (Stelio Savante) is supposed to be a resident of Marfa yet he has a strange, vaguely South African accent. And why does he walk around in head-to-toe black with a trenchcoat in the Texas heat? Then there’s Sasha Thurston‘s performance as Heather the Gypsy. Yes, there’s a gypsy reading Tarot in Texas. It’s at a festival so it kind of works. Thurston‘s performance primarily consists of awkward stares to infer severity.

Jumping back to the good though, I would say that the concept that drives this thinking man’s ghost story is rather beautiful.  Too, the mere presence of Mr. Tony Todd and character actor Richard Riehle elevate the material to a place that is enjoyable when they arrive on screen. Andy Stapp who wrote, directed, did the effects, the stunts, the props, the art direction, and the editing for this movie is to be commended for effort alone. But more importantly, he really does tap into something that few other films get right. Stapp really captures the oddly mystical feel of small-town Texas and its connection with the paranormal. For that alone, Destination Marfa is his triumph.

4 out of 10