Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

How many films have we seen set in decaying far away third world locations, way beyond the reach of law and order and inhabited by the detrius of the Western World, each with a shady past and all living on the edge. These films usually have as their title the name of the city in which they are set, Casablanca, Algiers, Maroc, Hong Kong, Shanghai - as long as it is exotic and off the beaten track, City of Ghosts is no exception. In the 1940s it would have been named Pnomg Peng and starred Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Gale Sondegaard, Marlene Deitrich, Hedy Lamaar, Jean Gabin and other favorites of the genre. All the requisite characters are there. All twisted, corrupt and ready to sell their own mothers at a snap of the fingers.The French exile Emile, owner of a run down hotel and bar, who may have been left over from the French colonization of Indo China and has no home in France, or maybe he is an escaped convict, or a deserter from the Foreign Legion. Who knows, he might be any and all of these things. He knows his way around, understands his low life customers, who to deal with, which palms to grease and more importantly - when.Other main characters comprise the not -quite-good guy around whom the story is built, the successful con man who might have gone in for one con too many, the corrupt general, the bar girls (boys) and of course, the decent clean western girl visiting old temples and naively treading her delicate way through the mud and filth.Cambodia is shown as a near derelict run down ruin of a place, crumbling buildings, dirt roads, rubbish strewn everywhere, although there are some glimpses of lovely homes and attractive gardens. I was reminded of "The Quiet American", "Brokedown Palace" and "Beyond Rangoon" the westerner suddenly cast adrift in a very different world. If you like to lose yourself in an intricate thriller set in foreign parts, with nostalgia for the film noir genre, I can recommend this film.

Don't be put off by the IMDb score (currently 5.9), take a look at the reviews and you'll see that a lot of viewers loved it.While it is a far from perfect movie, and I can see why the majority of people wouldn't really enjoy it, it does contain atmospheric qualities rarely found in modern films. The story itself is fairly simple, but the settings and authenticity of the whole environment is perfectly captured, and allows the viewer to get a good feel of life in modern Cambodia. The performances are excellent and Matt Dillon can take pride in the fact that while the City of Ghosts was never a mainstream hit, he has made a movie that offers something others don't.

Don't know about the story and all. But having been to Combodia, all the crazyness makes a lot of sense! Great shots of the country and Dillon has got a really good feel for it. OK, the characters and parts of the story seem a bit far fetched. But knowing the country some of this stuff is not too far of! Great movie I thought! Some of the characters hanging around at that hotel are just like the people I saw back there. Also, quite a few amateur actors..which is really cool I admit though, If this film would take place in a country that I do not personally know I would probably not get much out of it. But in any way I think it is underrated lots.

This is one of the few sleazy films that I've seen more than once and will continue to watch every couple of years. Perhaps it's just because I love the colors in here and it's a strange movie, a strange story in an exotic locale: Cambodia. Exotic, but you wouldn't want to live there, at least the parts shown in this film!Although showing a lot of dingy city scenes, the Cambodian scenery was fascinating. I found the story to be, too, only if to find out what was in store next for the lead character played by Matt Dillon. There are so many bizarre characters in here, nobody that you can really trust, that it keeps you on edge.Another odd thing about this film: it's quite a mixture of international actors: Dillon and James Caan, both from the United States; Natasha Melhone from Great Britain, Gerald Depardieu from France, Stellan Skarggard from Sweden and Kem Sereyvuth from Cambodia. The latter is the only truly nice person in the whole movie, playing Dillon's faithful guide, "Sok."The movie, which plays like a film noir, gets a bit ugly at the end but is well worth your time.