Polterheist

Despite the cheesy title, there was a little bit of potential in 'Polterheist'. Comedy, horror and crime sounded very intriguing together, although they don't always mix perfectly, and highly appreciate all three of those genres on their own (especially crime). The premise was suggestive of it being an unsettling and entertaining film, or at least have the potential to be. The cover/poster looked quite creepy and not too silly at all.

'Polterheist' however was a mess on the whole, another waste of decent potential and have said more than once that one of my pet hates is good potential wasted. There are things that don't always make me proud to be a Brit, and watching 'Polterheist' is one of them (can think of a heck of a lot worse though, like the terrible political state we're in at the moment). There is plenty however that does make me proud, like some of the greatest literature ever written, great classical music composers and some immensely talented singers and performers amongst others.

The only real thing that stopped me from giving 'Polterheist' a lower score is there is some unintentional humour that did raise a smirk that did stop it from being a dreary experience.

Otherwise, apart from the odd moment of slick style the camera work tends to be erratic and the editing repetitive. The sound too often telegraphs what is going to happen prematurely, so nothing really surprises. Actually thought the dialogue to be quite clunky and forced, the supposed dark humour lacking wit and coming over as strained. The horror with the vengeful spirit is neither unsettling or entertaining, instead being very bland and more silly than scary (also thought it unnecessary), and plays third fiddle to the comedy and crime elements.

As for 'Polterheist's' crime element, there is no tension or suspense, not even surprises, everything is too easy to figure out and when there are any attempts to complicate the story it becomes unfocused. All three elements fail individually and make for a very muddled and unbalanced experience meshed together. Many other films and such do a far better job at the pulls no punches approach, which was pretty gratuitously done here. Didn't get anything from any of the characters, the direction struggles to balance the different elements together and the actors never really look comfortable.

In summary, a mess but not a beyond redemption one. 2/10

Polterheist throws two small time gangsters in to a race against the clock to recover stolen loot from one of their "colleagues". The only problem, he's dead!

Seeking the advice of a psychic medium they contact him and so the mayhem ensues. Laced with tongue in cheek humour and surprising twists this film had me laughing and guessing all the way through.

I particularly enjoyed the performance of Pushpinder as Uday, Bradford's own "bad man" who puts the pressure on the two haplessly dimwitted whilst enjoying the luxuries of his grandeur.

I would definitely recommend!

Based upon the original short this feature length film shows the originality that UK independent film making can still provide. Taking the base premise of gangsters trying to locate missing money, the twists & narrative turns are layered well maintaining the films pace. Gritty shots of urban streets & explosive acts of violence show the influence of Get Carter (1971) The cast deliver good solid performances with Jo Mousley inhabiting the role of Alice Moon & the dead Frank exceptionally well. Sid Akbar Ali & Jamie Cymbal are a great pair of mid level gangsters. The character of Uday (played by Pushpinder Chani) is another level of deranged & outlandish violence; as such he is probably the least believable character. Gun, knife & cricket bat stand-offs pepper the drama with darkly comic dialogue & action (especially paying for parking ...) The visual effect of ghosts is particularly well conceived & executed. It is thanks to video-on-demand, Netflix, Amazon & other streaming services that smaller films like this can get the greater audience they deserve. And this is definitely a film that is worthy of viewing. It is to the great credit of the cast & crew that films like this can be made, & I look forward to seeing more from director David Gilbank. (I can only imagine what he could have done with just a tenth [£4 million] of the budget for the 2000 version of Get Carter!)

Why members of the cast think they can get away with fudging the reviews is beyond me. They haven't put any effort into concealing their identity. hayleybentertainments? which is a stripper for hire company, and, hayley b in the cast, who stars as a polish stripper, or others signing up and the day later leaving their one and only review.

Here's a 1 star for the cheek. Remove the reviews and I may give this dreadfully paced, rather bland but generally inoffensive film the 3 stars it deserves..

Rather like the recent "revelation" that Amazon is full of fake reviews, we find a similar ghostly phenomenon here. There are a number of glowing reviews for this title, created by persons who joined IMDB in 2018, and have submitted a single review (for this movie). One would almost suspect a master plan to promote their own movie...

Anyway, I actually enjoyed this movie. It's a great idea (reminds me a bit of "Cleaver", the movie within The Sopranos. It's not great, and the cast (I note an Emmerdale actress) have limited talent on display, but it made me chuckle, and I do enjoy bungled heist movies.