Chicago may claim the story of Resurrection Mary as its own, but the "ghost hitchhiker" story is truly one of the most ubiquitous ghost story legends out there. Knowing how familiar the legend is, I wondered how the writer and director would go about giving this film a unique distinguishing quality. To my surprise, they did manage to give this film an identity of its own. Unfortunately -- and not so much to my surprise -- the end result just isn't very good. Unanswered questions, an unlikeable and unsympathetic main character, story elements that make no sense and, in one case in particular, seemingly have nothing whatsoever to do with any part of the story -- these are not the attributes of a good film.

Don't count on the ending to make up for any of the film's problems, either, as Resurrection Mary goes out with the mildest of whimpers.

Even if you don't know the specific story upon which this film is based, you surely know the legend in one variant or another. A lovely young woman in a white dress wanders along a dark and lonely road, a passing motorist picks her up, and she mysteriously disappears when the car reaches a local cemetery (where she presumably lies ever since the night she was killed on that very road). That's the gist of the legend, but here we first spot Mary (Eva Bloomfield) at a wedding reception in Chicago's Oh Henry Ballroom. She catches the eye of Shawn (Jason Ryan Lovett), who pursues her -- quite in vain -- with little concern for his fiancee. Still, it's enough for Shawn to broach the idea of putting off the engagement. Matters deteriorate further when he and Amy (Rebecca Shea) end up picking Mary up along the road and giving her a ride. It's a recipe for disaster, one which leaves a guilt-stricken Sean fairly obsessed with Mary and determined to right the wrong that changed his life forever that night.

This Resurrection Mary is not just some old ghost that disappears from Sean's life forever. She's not even a ghost in the true sense of the word -- not so long as she does the work she has agreed to do for the devil himself. There are a couple of mildly creepy scenes along the way, but all hopes for a satisfying horror experience are dashed by the time the film reaches the halfway mark. The story itself isn't all that good and Sean is just insufferable as he goes about his search for the truth.

But what bugs me the most are the story elements that are presented yet never explained. Take, for instance, the whole deal with the coins -- not explained. There's one victim the ghost of Mary targets for having helped Sean -- not only did I not see what she supposedly did, I can't for the life of me figure out how it would even be possible for her to have done it. And what's with the German-speaking lady who makes a horrendous discovery at a strange house? Maybe I missed something somewhere because this scene struck me as having no connection whatsoever to the rest of the movie. It's like some practical joker snuck this inexplicable scene in under the director's nose.

Resurrection Mary did surpass my low expectations, and I have to give the filmmakers some credit for adding a few wrinkles to such a familiar ghost story, but I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this film to any of my fellow horror lovers.