Urban Ghost Story

When urban ghost story is mentioned stuff like Candyman etc. spring to mind so I was perplexed when I saw this little gem from Scotland recently.

The content and atmosphere of the film does not adhere to the title whatsoever. You would be expecting Snoop Dog and Dr Dre driving around in cadillacs killing vampires. But no, instead a gritty Ken Loach style drama set in lovely Glasgow! I was very impressed overall by this effort, although the spiritualist and paranormal team from the university seemed a bit over the top with the more realistic view elsewhere. Otherwise it was neatly paced with a few creepy moments and a very moving score. I would recommend this film to any film watcher and not just paranormal junkies!

Film-making duo Jones & Jolliffe deliver bleak and spooky visions in modern day Blighty with this inspired tale of the supernatural.

A winning cast plays out the story of a 12 year-old girl haunted by survivor's guilt after living through a horrific car accident that claimed her best friend. The guilty conscience coincides with subtle but decidedly ethereal events in the family's rundown, government subsidized building. Is a ghost haunting the family or is there a corporeal explanation for furniture going bump in the night?

The film looks startling realistic which heightens the goose flesh when the boo shocks come (especially in the first 25 minutes) but the film doesn't settle for scares, it also examines the real world struggles of a single mother and her brood facing down to earth skepticism of money lenders, social workers and the police. Some viewers may be put off when the film neglects ghostly activity in favor of character study, and perhaps some of the tone shifts are unwieldy, nonetheless this is one of the best (and painfully overlooked by US distributors) British genre films since DOG SOLDIERS. Bravo.

Finding any work with Billy Boyd here in the US is tough so finding something where Billy is credited as 'loan shark' told me he wouldn't be in it much - and he was only in two scenes. However, the story itself was absorbing, though slow or repetitive in a couple of places. There was a good amount of tension building to keep me interested. While I am not familiar with who's who in the Scottish acting world, I thought there were strong performances by Heather Ann Foster, Stephanie Buttle and Nicola Stapleton, as well as a fair turn for Jason Connery. I was quite astonished by Billy's foul mouthed character - a loan shark that has a stutter that comes out when he particularly angry. I thought he played the part well. He certainly startled me with his performance - so much anger.

Generally, I don't go in for these kind of movies and it was curiosity of Billy's previous work that got my attention. But it was the story that kept me watching.

Well, this is a shame. After all the good review I had heard/ read about this film, I managed to rent it out on video, and was left feeling very let down.

The initial concept appealed to me anyway, so without the knowledge of the strong reviews I would have eventually watched this film.

The story? A young girl dies for approx 3 minutes in a car crash with her best male friend. He dies, but she lives. She is brought back from death with an evil spirit and survivor's guilt. Set in Scotland, I saw this as a nice departure from the over-glamourised Hollywood supernatural movies.

The first 15/20 minutes are used to create an unsettling atmosphere, and I did jump a few times. From then on, it's all downhill.

We are treated to many, many flashbacks that deal with the actual car crash, and these do get tiresome after a while. Jason Connery, not a patch on his Dad, is very annoying and I did feel the need to switch off when he came close to being on screen.

If the film does have a good point, it's in the performance of Heather Ann Foster who plays the enigmatic and traumatised Lizzie. She IS the film, and she seems to carry this burden very well, for a girl of such a young age, she seemed very confident.

Of course, people will try and compare this film to "Poltergeist", which, in plain English Should not be done - they are both totally separate films!!!

This film wanted, and could have been so much more than it is. It is a shame that I didn't enjoy it, but I hope someone out there does.

I just didn't connect to this film at all

A half way decent mix of supernatural goings on and a close examination of a family torn apart by a tragic accident. Like the spirit, this film doesn't know where it is. It's basically lost.

5/10

In all honesty I bought the movie just because I heard that Billy Boyd was in it and I am a huge Billy Boyd and Lord Of The Rings Fan. But when I saw the movie I was amazed, it was so good, scary suspenseful and very well done. The story was well constructed and the editing was amazing. Towards the end of the movie the editing all but makes the movie one of the best I have ever seen. While Billy's part was small it was very well done, I found myself actually distesting him for the first time. He is so lovable in LOTR that when you see him in a different role you are amazed that he could play someone evil. This is the first Scottish film that I have seen, and if they are all this good I want to find as many as I possibly can and spend as much money as possible just so I can see all of these good missed movies. I am Irish and I am very proud to say that I come from somewhere near Scotland, they produce good movies and even better actors. If you can you should get a hold of this movie and see it.