You can say a lot of things about the foreclosure crisis, but you can’t say that moving into a neighborhood destroyed by foreclosures could drive a man insane after he falls victim to ancient curses while living a haunted house.

Until now!

Those very events are the plot of a long-delayed movie now available on DVD and various on demand platforms. “Foreclosure,” which first hit HousingWire’s radar in 2010, (yes, 2010! How's that for a scoop!?!?) tells the story of Bill Landopolous, played by Michael Imperioli, who moves into a house in Queens, New York with his son and father-in-law.

But, as it so often is in the movies, this house is more than just a house.

From the official plot synopsis:

In Foreclosure, Michael Imperioli plays a man whose lucrative business during a long bull market selling his expertise on financial markets in a small town crumbles when the foreclosure crisis hits and he loses his own home. He goes on the road with his father-in-law Raymond and son Steven until they move into a house bequeathed to Raymond by his late brother-in-law Calvin.

The three hope to put their cares behind them and start afresh but ominous premonitions start when a local police officer points out all the numerous foreclosures, bank-owned properties and short sales that have depopulated the once-attractive neighborhood he patrols.

The film’s director, Richard Ledes, said that the movie is “powered by a ghost story that transfigures traumas around race that interact throughout American history.”

Check out the trailer:

While living at the house, Imperioli’s character is visited by Virgil Paxton, played by Wendell Pierce, who tells him that “horrible events” have taken place in and around the house, specifically at a tree beside the house.

“In my ghost film Foreclosure, the economic crisis of 2008 unleashes a virulent and violent resurrection of racism,” Ledes said. “The racism that haunts the world of the film eventually possesses the protagonist Bill Lindopoulos who decides he must lynch his son to prove he is white.”

Ledes said that his motivation and inspiration for making the film ran deep.

“I am myself Greek-American and was particularly interested in how Southern-Europeans such as Greeks often experienced immigration to the United States in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century as a struggle to be identified as white,” Ledes continued.

“This was especially true during the period when they were being targeted by groups such as the Klu Klux Klan for reputedly diluting the purity of the ‘Nordic race ’with an admixture of the ‘Mediterranean race.’ I wrote the film before the recent paroxysm of police violence against blacks and before the European campaign of austerity that has decimated Greece,” Ledes added.

“Can we see these historical phenomena as involving ghosts? The film has only gained in relevance as these terrible forces have reappeared,” Ledes continued. “The neighborhood in Queens where we shot Foreclosure was replete with foreclosed housing and there is no doubt that those empty houses helped inspire us.”

According to the film’s website, Foreclosure is now available Amazon, Vimeo on Demand, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play.

The movie’s tagline is “Ghosts don’t move out.” Kind of gives a whole new meaning to zombie foreclosures, amirite?

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(Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices fell over the past year for the first time since 2009 as gasoline prices continued to tumble, which could allow a cautious Federal Reserve more room to hold off on raising interest rates.

Other data on Thursday showed a rebound in business investment spending plans and a steadily firming labor market, suggesting the move into deflation territory would be brief. In addition, gasoline prices have been rising in recent weeks.

"We believe the Fed will wait until September before achieving liftoff on interest rates and, even then, the process of normalization will move at a glacial pace," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago.

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index fell 0.1 percent in the 12 months through January, the first decline since October 2009 and a sharp deceleration from December's 0.8 percent rise.

The CPI dropped 0.7 percent from December, the largest fall in six years, after slipping 0.3 percent in the prior month.

The dollar was unfazed by the weak inflation backdrop, rising more than one percent against a basket of currencies, while poor demand at a monthly note auction undercut prices for U.S. Treasuries. Stocks on Wall Street fell.

Fed officials, who have long viewed the energy-driven drop in inflation as transitory, could take comfort from a rise in underlying price pressures last month.

The U.S. central bank has a 2 percent inflation target and tracks a price measure that is running even lower than the CPI.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers this week that the central bank's policy-setting committee "needs to be reasonably confident that over the medium-term inflation will move up toward its 2-percent objective" before it starts to raise interest rates.

The so-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, rose 0.2 percent last month after December's 0.1 percent gain. Economists, however, believe the effects of lower energy prices and a strong dollar still have to work their way through to the core CPI, which could mean tame readings ahead.

"It will be some time before the Fed gets the necessary confirmation that inflation will move back to target in the medium term," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

The core CPI was lifted by increases in the cost of shelter, recreation and apparel prices. In the 12 months through January, the core CPI rose 1.6 percent after a similar gain in December.

OIL GLUT

Softer global demand and increased shale oil production in the United States have caused an oil glut, causing crude prices to plummet.

Domestic gasoline prices plunged 18.7 percent in January, the biggest drop since December 2008, after falling 9.2 percent in the prior month. Gasoline prices have now declined for seven straight months.

Separately, the Commerce Department said non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending intentions, increased 0.6 percent last month after a revised 0.7 percent fall in December.

The increase followed four straight months of decline.

"Companies are laying in supplies to meet the demand from consumers down the road, so this is a positive for the outlook," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.

"The economy looks on solid footing to start the year, with orders picking up and yes, there is some inflation out there."

Business investment has been hurt by a softening global economy, as well as the strong dollar, which has dented the overseas profits of some companies. Lower crude oil prices are also undercutting demand for equipment in the oil field.

Shipments of core capital goods, which are used to calculate equipment spending in the government's gross domestic product measurement, fell 0.3 percent last month after rising 0.3 percent in December.

Business spending was a drag on growth in the fourth quarter, holding the economy to a 2.6 percent annualized growth pace. First-quarter growth is currently forecast at around a 2.3 percent rate.

Another report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 313,000 in the week ended Feb. 21. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 11,500 to 294,500 last week.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)