The Canal (2014)

Directed by Ivan Kavanagh. Starring Rupert Evans, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Steve Oram, Kelly Byrne, Hannah Hoekstra, Callum Heath, Serena Brabazon, Carl Shaaban.

Not long after getting caught being unfaithful to her husband, Hoekstra’s body is discovered at the bottom of a canal. Husband Evans is the prime suspect, but he insists it was the work of some supernatural entity, a confirmation of his fears after viewing an old film reel that showed there was a murder committed in his home about a century earlier. The obsession takes over his life, but is he being driven mad by the evil presence or is it his madness which makes him imagine seeing the apparition? A gloomy, muddled horror mystery with stark, “lo-fi” atmosphere instead of the dense, Gothic style pervading most ghost stories; the motif of archaic film production and exhibition, however, is more curious than foreboding. Director Kavanagh tries to maximize the fright factor by imitating without replicating, and as such, the rhythms are off and the effects are unconvincing, so it’s easy to recognize what should be scary, yet nothing is. The opening scene where Evans addresses an auditorium full of students and tells them they’re about to see ghosts on film not only promises more than the rest of the movie can deliver, it ends up being a tease without payoff or even having a firm connection to the rest of the story. If you spot this one resting deep in murky water, just let it lie.

45/100