Altar

A young family move to an isolated house which the mother has been hired to restore only to discover that presences still linger casting a hold over her artist sculpturing husband.

Taking a leaf from a James Herbert novel and channelling countless haunted films Altar is an effective ghost story chiller, however, what sets director/writer Nick Willing's offering apart are the practical and some special effects which have an optical natural feel as opposed to the usual ineffective blatant CGI.

Willing delivers some genuinely eerie visuals and creepy moments, this coupled with a great score and on location shoot help give some credence and atmosphere to the proceedings. Matthew Modine's Hamilton sports a Shining Jack Torrence like woollen jumper (the writer character is replaced here by an artist) and mimics Torrence's transformation (although quite speedy) still Modine gives an intense performance. Both the younger actors are effective, actress Antonia Clarke is notable as Penny. Olivia Williams gives convincing performance which complements the naturalistic writing and setting.

While it breaks no new ground in terms of ghost stories or twist endings it's a solid old school British horror.

I love a good ghost story. I practically worship a great ghost story. Sadly, Altar is neither. It has its moments, and it's not a complete waste of time to watch, but in my opinion it started with all the makings of a truly interesting story and mixed it all up into a batch of...mixed up.

The true star of the film is its Yorkshire manor location. Now, if I'd been handed this set to work with (and if I, you know, actually made movies), Altar is NOT the story I'd have come up with. I actually felt a bit annoyed at the movie for not living up to such a classic haunted house setting! The premise was simple enough, and it started out in fairly contemporary spooky fashion, but there was just not the right kind of follow through. Rather than spine tingles and after-view thoughts about mortality, the climax delivered only a mash-up of effects and incoherent, half-explored themes.

I will say this: the actors who played the children did great. Williams did fine in her role, and even Modine did the best he could with what he was given (his character was the biggest mess in the mix, with some truly uncomfortable scenes - and not in a horror/mystery sort of way).

Generally, you could do a lot worse for your hour and a half, but if you want a great haunted house / ghost story, look elsewhere. It's been done a thousand times better at least hundreds of times already.

If you've seen a fair share of horror films, you can tick off not only the mash up of plot points but the composition of shots, camera tricks, and the musical flourishes.

The Legend of Hell House, The Amityville Horror, The Shining, The Haunting, Rose Red, Dead Again, Darkness, Burnt Offerings, Poltergeist, The Ninth Gate, etc. It's strange and weird enough, but the plot doesn't cohere and devolves into the straight to video mess it is.

By the time things turn a corner and the elder daughter starts to get rolled into the mix, it's like you're watching a new movie, as if they're trying to restart in the third reel. But that's the film in a nutshell, constantly restarting with a new conflict that sort of connects but not really.

The Altar is a ghost story in the classic tradition. Meg (Olivia Williams), Alec (Matthew Modine) and their children move in to a decrepit Yorkshire mansion whilst Meg restores it for the owner. Over the next couple of months the haunted nature of the house becomes apparent, with the usual banging sounds, slamming doors and ethereal appearances. Most of the film relies heavily on Olivia Williams and she does an OK job, with Matthew Modine limping in towards the end.

Undoubtedly, the film borrows heavily from other ghost and spirit films, most notably The Shining, but it was almost like playing bingo, identifying tropes from other films as it progressed, such as The Exorcist, Don't Look Now, etc. The TV movie feel and austere feel of the grand old house give a 1970s drama feel to the film. Some may associated this with quality drama, some with cheap production values.

There are some plus points: the old Yorkshire mansion and it's windswept grounds give a good background feeling, and the explicit pictures of the ghosts is usual and scarier than most in the genre - more like The Grudge than Turn of the Screw.

Overall, I was left with the question, why? Did this movie really need to be made?

This is a bad movie. When I knew the cast, I thought it had to be good. Experienced actors with a great curriculum of good movies. Well, it started out very bad and it gets worse till the end. A lot of clichés. The same and old ones that everybody saw in thousand of other horror type movies. Bad acting, which surprised me. It seemed that Mathew was not there at all....he was around the movie scene and stopped a while to make some filming. Didn't feel him at all. The plot, it's old and the same one, ever and ever again. The effects are bad and didn't scare one bit. Not even the slamming doors, or the sounds...nothing is capable of scare in this picture. My question is: why someone bothers to do a movie like thousands of other? and why did the actors accept being part of this? I really don't understand. There are a lot of stupid scenes also. It's really not good enough to spend time watching.