Cinematography:
Ole Bratt BirkelandComposer:
Haim Frank IlfmanCast:
Andy Nyman, Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther, Paul Warren, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Nicholas Burns, Samuel Bottomley, Oliver Woollford (more)Plots(1)
Professor Phillip Goodman (Andy Nyman), psychologist and arch-sceptic, has his rationality tested to the hilt when he stumbles across a long-lost file containing details of three terrifying 'hauntings'. Shaken by what he reads, Goodman embarks on a mission to find rational explanations for these ghostly stories. As Goodman investigates, he meets three tormented people, each with a tale more frightening, uncanny and inexplicable than the last. Night-watchman Tony Matthews (Paul Whitehouse) had a horrifying encounter in an empty warehouse and it has haunted him for years. Teenager Simon Rifkind (Alex Lawther) took a late night drive that has rendered him unable to sleep. Mike Priddle (Martin Freeman), a brash banker, has had his worldview shaken to the core by unquiet spirits that apparently inhabit his otherwise perfect existence. As Goodman digs into their stories, his carefully maintained and rational world starts to dissolve around him. Is it a trick of the mind or are darker forces at work? Gradually Goodman is drawn towards the unearthing of a long-buried secret that will pull his life, and everything he thought he knew, apart. (Altitude Film Distribution)
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Reviews (8)
A bit of an unconventional anthology. In the great majority of horror anthologies what you remember is the individual tales, while the story that frames them is something extra, but in Ghost Stories it’s actually the opposite. The spooky mini stories are functional, but dull. They are scary and can make you a bit nervous, but they don’t go anywhere because they end quickly (my favourite was the second one about the young guy in the car; it was creepy, especially the circumstances under the which the main character tells it). But the gem is the story of Professor Goodman, who leads the film. It delivers a couple of surprises after which the readings of the mindfuck-meter go higher than you’d expect before the screening. The final outcome is a shame, however. It’s a cowardly way to explain the previous events, even if, in Ghost Stories, the creators take it so literally that it becomes a joke.
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Too bad it´s not better executed, this way it has atmosphere, many well-done scenes (by far the most intense scene is the purely King´s, supernatural scene, when the boys are at the sewer), a few ideas, but it covers too much and the three parts and the final par are conflicting. Also, as it follows horror classics (which is likeable), it means that one knows exactly what to expect and what it's all about. In any case, a nice piece of work from a department that has not been seen in Czech cinemas in recent years.
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I didn’t like this. The stories are about nothing, really, and when it becomes unsurprisingly clear that they are supposed to frame something larger and more ambitious, the helplessness of the narration is stretched to the maximum. As horror it’s as weak as English tea, as a drama is dull and basically incomprehensible, because the attractions at the end overshadow the logical climax. Martin Freeman after a long time in something uninteresting through and through.
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A compilation of short stories with a higher goal than just telling its three stories. These would be
unsatisfactorily unfinished by themselves, though able to raise some desired goose bumps. In the
end, it is a British variant of Creepshows, masterfully crafted and modern, but nicely old-school at
heart, which makes it kind of feel like an old-timey movie.
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This is a ghost anthology where the unlikeable to me main character tries to prove that all paranormal cases are a hoax and gets three cases to solve. The cases alone aren't that interesting except for the last one, where at least something interesting happens and Martin Freeman scores points, but what is worth mentioning is the main final line, which could be described as a decent mindfuck as it absolutely avoids the previous plot, but I'm not entirely sure I understood it either. It's nicely shot, has atmosphere, the acting is decent and it's unusually overwrought for a horror film, so it's worth a watch, though I prefer more action-packed and entertaining stuff. 65%.
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