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Titled Kollegiet overseas, this is one of several films distributed by Lion’s Gate via Ghost House Underground, which sells Room 205 as part of an eight film collection. It wasn’t as polished as some psychological scary movies, and didn’t offer the blood and ironic twists of SAW, but it was a decent 91-minute film.

A slow starter, Room 205 offered tidbits of details that could have made a fascinatingly bloody tale - but they were never fully developed. A few great examples: Katrine tells Rolf that her mother had a mental illness that made her see things. It could have been used to make viewers wonder if she was, in fact, seeing a ghost, or if she was schizophrenic, and actually committing the crimes. The ghost herself has a story to tell. Twenty years ago, she was raped and electrocuted in Room 205. Was she going after the children of the rapists? Nope. And the ultimate mean girl, Sanne (pronounced SAY-nah) tells Katrine that her mother was a former student - which would have been around the same time as Ghost Girl. Was there a connection to these women? Again, nothing.

These were excellent tidbits that could have tantalized audiences and ratcheted up the tension. Unfortunately, script writer Jannik Tai Mosholt seemed to just drop these in and forget about them.

I will give them credit for the ending, which reminded me of Tales from the Crypt, old Twilight Zones and a few Stephen King novels and the Wicked Dead series.

The film did offer some creep factor - and the remote setting help drive that home to viewers. Room 205 was filmed in an abandoned retirement home and the cast and crew said the creeks and shadows offered a creepy backdrop to this ghost story - and scared them sometimes as well. In an interview, the director said it was disconcerting to know the chapel - where dead bodies were stored was just across the hall from the cafeteria, where workers created meatballs for the remaining residents.

The DVD offers excellent cast and crew interviews, as well as a trailer gallery and director commentary. You can view it with English and Spanish subtitles, and English closed captioning. I opted to watch it with English voice overs. The voices didn’t exactly fit the look of the characters (one sounded like a Disney standard female voice), but it was amazing how the English seemed almost seamless while the actors spoke their native tongue on screen. No Kung Fu weirdness here.

It may have frightened overseas film goers, but Room 205 will be too tame for most horror fans. It doesn’t offer American splatterpunk, or psychological creep outs, but it does offer a handful of blood, a dash of guts and a few good turns for lightweight horror film fans. Still, I wouldn’t pay full price for it. Maybe wait and see if it comes to cable.

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