The Ghosts of Borley Rectory

source: The Ghosts of Borley Rectory

Well executed and thought through. Well done for this, a good job!!! The SFX were placed well and used well! Was great to see Toyah too. The storyline was great, the location is absolutely stunning. Some of the costumes were great others needed a little help.

With such an interesting subject matter, this had the potential to be really good. Unfortunately it wasn't. In fact it was quite dreadful. From the opening music to the clumsy editing, wooden acting and stilted dialogue, the only redeeming feature seemed to be Toyah, hamming it up for all she was worth. Definitely one to avoid.

I do not believe in gods, ghosts, paranormal but I still enjoy a good horror. This was ok but a bit lacking in pace, a few decent jump scares, apparently based on a true story of a journalist was a over used imagination. Also with Toyah Willcox to add to the mystery.

Cast: actually some interesting additions here, Toyah Wilcox and Julian Sands for starters. Acting: The dialogue came across very rehearsed to the extent that one person did not really bounce of the others, so the tone of each piece of dialogue didn't really follow. If you want an example of this: compare the talk around the table about 20 minutes in when they talk about whether the house is haunted (the first discussion as a big group) where the acting is quite poor, in contrast with the séance involving Toyah Wilcox, where she responds to the other actors as a pro should. Unfortunately many of the actors were quite wooden. As for Louisa Warren, her solo scenes involved her walking around with wide open eyes and strange expressions, either smiling or a quizzical look, all of which were over the top. She was walking around like she was off her nut on drugs half the time. Plot: standard haunted house story. Nothing out of the ordinary, so if you want something to blow your mind, this is not the film. But for a diversion, yeah why not. Dialogue: Quite predictable. Not an amazing piece of screenwriting. Pace: Nothing really happens. It doesn't really get going, and the atmosphere is not built up, so it just doesn't scare. Setting: A lovely old house, reasonably atmospheric. Impact: Will quickly forget this film. SFX: given the budget, ok I suppose. Realism: The events took a year, but it felt like it was a couple of night's vigil. Contribution to the genre: Nothing new from this film. It doesn't scare, so as a horror film, it isn't really doing it's job. The scariest thing about this film, was the acting of the lady playing the part of Helen. Enjoyment: not really for me, this one. Once I have started watching a film, I am normally committed to the end. Whilst I did persevere, I could easily have given up on it. I have given it an extra point for the fact this had a low budget.

The most haunted house in England burned down before WWII. Until then it had the scariest rep in town. A team shows up in the 30s for a six-month stint at getting to the roots of the hauntings. This was better than expected. It held me and even shivered me timbers on occasion.

Thought this would finally be a good film about the hauntings of Borley Rectory, seeing there were good actors starring in it. How wrong I was!! It was terrible, badly filmed and a very weak story...don't waste your time watching this rubbish!!!

Any review over 5 has to be highly dubious. It seems that the most basic of film skills has been totally abandoned- such as lighting, and creating an atmosphere to evoke emotion. In fact, most of the lighting seems to have been reproduced for each scene, often totally contrary to the apparent lighting in the frame!! Then there is the acting. Oh my goodness! It's not as though there is a lack of talent and experience in some of the roles (and in others there is zero ), even so, the on screen performance seems to have been left to reading some lines of the script and repeating them as the scene is shot. Zero direction for the rare talented individuals at all. The few shots meant to be horrific were just shot as is with zero effort made in post to make them anywhere near scary at all! The story isn't any better. It is fragmented and bland with no thought being given to engaging the audience. Just don't waste your time - and certainly not your cash - on seeing this. It really isn't worth it.

Arriving at the Borley Rectory in 1937, a paranormal investigator and his assistant try to get to the bottom of the reports of a series of hauntings at the location with a small crew of helpers, but as they stay more and more incidents continue forcing them to find the truth about the hauntings. Overall, there's quite a lot to like with this one. The main likable feature here is the generally enjoyable setup that brings everybody together in the facility to carry out their investigations. The fact that so much of the first half focuses on a series of stories and experiences involving the incidents at the location between several different individuals within the community gives this a fun, old-school character. The retelling of the incidents, with one coming complete with a flashback recreation of the incident as well, adds a highly chilling and atmospheric vibe to the film which adds a lot to like here. That carries over into the eeriness of the various buildings and rooms that the chilling encounters and sightings occur. With the stories giving this a fine start with the ghostly figure being spotted in brief blasts standing menacingly behind someone, the film gets quite fun with the later seance that goes wrong as well as the brief encounters between the group and the figure in the building creates some chilling scenes at points. These are kept to short enough encounters that the sudden shock of the deformed nun ghost looks creepy in these quick scenes throughout the film, giving this one enough to like that hold it up overall. There isn't much to dislike here, which really only focuses on one area. This one tends to come off way too talky at times in favor of the supernatural action present here which might be a bit underwhelming at those points. The conversations that arise from the discussions of the incidents that occurred to each of the parishioners at the church or the investigators looking at the incidents within the house while they're there which does seem somewhat as the focus becomes far more laid back and lethargic during these scenes which for a film of this length is a bit of a drawback. The other issue is a confusing and somewhat nonlinear approach taken in the finale where it curiously decides to skip around in various timelines and different character outcomes that is really jarring to see play out. The final minutes of this one seem so random and disjointed in a rushed-through manner that just doesn't make any sense or tie into anything that came before, making for an underwhelming finish to the film. Combined with the lack of blood and gore at all with so little potential for any of that to happen that may or may not be an issue for some, these overall are what brings the film back. Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.

On a limited budget, a movie like this must be seen in that context. With that in mind, "The Ghosts of Borley Rectory", directed by Steven M Smith, creates a creepy atmosphere in an unstable environment, a bit reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The actors, including some notable names, the director (who co-wrote the script), the camera crew and make up artist all join together, ably supported by a great music score, to deliver an entertaining 80 minutes.