Movie Review - Ghost Stories

This film basically has three short, horror films, crafted by writer-directors, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman. Instead of letting those horror films stand on their own, Dyson and Nyman have come up with a way to link them all together as part of one narrative. That one narrative feels less effective and more contrived than even the so-called narrative link in Brad Miska's anthology horror V/H/S (2012). The narrative is basically a bait-and-switch that didn't particularly work for me, which would have been fine, if the horror films within were really compelling or had something really incredible happen or had interesting drama at all. Unfortunately, each of the horror films are run-of-the-mill stories of people being haunted by a supernatural force in predictable ways that yield tense performances from its actors and occasionally creepy scenes but nothing all that memorable unlike the horror films in V/H/S.

Andy Nyman stars as Phillip Goodman, a professor in the UK who goes on television to debunk psychics or other people who claim to bear witness to supernatural events like seeing ghosts or spirits. One day, he gets a letter with a cassette tape that directs him to a remote location near the coast where a man who went missing gives him three cases to investigate. Phillip is skeptical but he goes and visits the three men to see if their cases have any validity. He sits down with each and each man tells him a story about encountering a ghost or a demonic spirit of some sort.

Paul Whitehouse (The Fast Show) plays Tony Matthews, a night watchman who gets spooked while he's guarding what looks like an abandoned building but not clear as to why. Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World) plays Simon Rifkind, a teenage kid who's driving home when his car breaks down after hitting something and then that something chases after him. Martin Freeman (Sherlock and The Office) plays Mike Priddle, a wealthy man who becomes haunted by the ghost of his dead wife and child.

Each actor gives an amazing performance of fear where we see each alone and wandering around a dark place, hearing strange noises or seeing things move by themselves, as well as shadows moving about until an ominous figure eventually appears or jumps out to scare them and us. It's all typical, horror film tropes. Yet, neither man's story really adds up to anything. Ostensibly, Phillip is supposed to be investigating, but beyond just listening to each man, Phillip doesn't do anything more to verify, as if anything could verify their stories being that each man was alone at the time, so the so-called investigation feels like a pointless exercise or as mentioned contrived.

However, it becomes evident that the investigation into the paranormal in the vein of The X-Files is just the bait for this movie. It gets to a point where the movie takes a sharp turn and the switch ends up being, almost out of The Twilight Zone with an ending akin to The Wizard of Oz (1939). Instead of questioning the existence of the paranormal as to suggest the questioning of God and the afterlife, the movie pivots to being about a man's inaction during a crisis moment. It's supposed to show how a man's life can be affected due to one cowardly moment. The guilt of which can drive a man to ruin his own life, either directly or indirectly or even both.

The whole thing seems to be an explication of that Edmund Burke quote about good men doing nothing, but this movie doesn't explore the nuances of that. This movie wholly condemns a scared and bullied child for making a mistake by basically doing nothing. The movie suggests this condemnation is coming from within the child himself, but whatever effect this had on that child's life as he became an adult is clouded with the ending being unclear of what was even real or not real about this movie at all.

Not Rated but for mature audiences.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 38 mins.

Available on DVD and VOD.