Breakinger
A Brilliant Conflict
HottWwjdIam
There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.
Brennan Camacho
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
univac1000
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.
rixrex
Is there a ghost here, or maybe not? That question is left unanswered, and left as a possibility either way. The girl who's the center of the controversy is a kind of teenage version of Candace Hilligoss in Carnival of Souls, and it seems possible that she might meet a similar fate, and indeed nearly does. The movie starts off slowly enough and it is hard to become involved, but when the paranormal investigations begin and the medium (noun here) arrives, by then it's engrossing. A nice examination of the various groups who take advantage of the folks who suffer paranormal activity, the tabloids, the parapsychologists, the séance types, all in it for their own gain and treating the "victims" as objects of study, not as people. If this is what the filmmakers intended to show, they were successful. If they were trying to create tension, they were partly successful, and if they wanted to make it a true Urban Ghost Story, they were barely successful. Not recommended for those who really like chills and scares, there are some, but not enough. But recommended for those who'd like a thoughtful examination of the society around paranormal activity.
davethorne700
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!
jenniearcheo
I liked the film, and not just because I happen to be a Billy Boyd fan. I wish the film were available in the US. I was lucky enough to have a friend who could translate out of PAL for me, although my copy ended up extremely quiet and therefore difficult to hear. This wasn't helped by the fact that they're in Glasgow. That particular dialect can be difficult for the US ear to properly interpret.A good example of this is the indie My Name is Joe, also set in Glasgow, which actually required subtitles. No, I'm not kidding.In any event, I liked the concept of the film in general. Particularly the fact that you're left guessing to the end whether the "ghost" is real or a product of Lizzie's sense of guilt over the death of the friend.I do think that Billy's character was the most interesting. He's only in two scenes, but he's got rather a lot of depth for all that. He's not just a loan shark, he's an insecure loan shark's son with a stammer and a runny nose. He seems to have some serious self esteem issues, and being flanked by two large thugs both emphasizes his short stature and implies that he can't convincingly threaten those he's trying to intimidate without them. On the other hand, the (darned sexy) way he menaces Lizzie's mum is indeed convincing. His true cowardly nature is, of course, revealed when Lizzie calls his bluff.
