I only watched this because Ellen Page is in it, I wasn't expecting much at all, and it was actually surprisingly entertaining. Obviously it's a TV movie and when comparing it to theatrical films it is bad, but for what it is, it is very solid. Totally worth watching with your kids or if you're just a fan of Ellen Page like me and wanted to see her earlier work.

Wes Merritt (Michael Ontkean) and his daughter Natalie (Ellen Page) get more than they bargained for when they buy an old house that was formerly inhabited by the nice old Mrs. Ashboro and her pet cat, Margaret. When strange things start happening in the house, all fingers point to the presence of Margaret, who died the same day as Mrs. Ashboro. But why has she come back to haunt them?

Trying to call this a "horror" film is something of a stretch, as it really falls more into a "family mystery" category. Having been made by Animal Planet, it has something of a TV vibe and is quite family friendly. There is, in fact, a ghost cat, and it does somehow happen to claw people from beyond the grave.

The casting is decent, bringing a post-"Twin Peaks" Ontkean together with a pre-"Juno" Page (who would have thought she would get big after seeing this film?). Everyone else is largely unknown (although, to be fair, they were probably all largely unknown at the time).

Great film? Definitely not. Good family fun, yes, certainly.

"Ghost Cat" or "Mrs. Asboro's Cat" is a family film from 2004 starring a young Ellen Page, Michael Ontkean who at 58 here still looks like he did on The Rookies, Lori Haller, and Shirley Knight as Mrs. Ashboro.

The story concerns an elderly woman (Knight) and her cat Margaret, both of whom pass away. Mrs. Ashboro had her house up for sale, at her nephew's prodding, which is when Wes Merritt and his daughter Natalie (Ontkean-Page) look at the house. Then she changes her mind.

Margaret the cat shows up to help Natalie, her dad, and the animal shelter owner (Haller) from time to time, especially as people are trying to destroy the animal shelter in order to get the property. It looked to me as if the producers used an older cat for Margaret, which makes sense.

This was cute. Not everything has to be bloodshed or special effects. Every once in a while, a story about a ghost cat is all you need.