Urban Ghost Story is the third collaboration between Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe of Living Spirit Pictures, their previous two feature films being The Runner and White Angel. Jones and Jolliffe were inspired by documentary accounts of poltergeist manifestations, in particular The Enfield Poltergeist Case. Anyone who has read about the case or seen the photographs taken at the scene will note the obvious influence on the events and imagery portrayed in the film. The Enfield Poltergeist … [Read more...]

We all have our favourite film version of this Dickens story, perhaps it’s the one we grew up with or watched with our parents as a yearly ritual. Although often just taken as a bit of Christmas fun, this version is probably one which some look forward to the most because as a musical it uplifts us and gets us in the mood for joyful festivities more than any other. It has an amazing cast who give us an extraordinary mixture of resentment, pity, joy and humour to get us in the mood for a … [Read more...]

“You mustn’t interrupt the cook when she’s making something delicious!!”… As this time of year once again draws upon us, my friends and I settle into a time-honoured debate: just what is the quintessential Christmas horror film? American titles like Black Christmas, Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night invariably spring to mind, but nothing will ever convince me that anyone does Yuletide terror better than us Brits. It is, after all, part of our national heritage- a roaring log fire, … [Read more...]

Few anthology films are as well made as “The House That Dripped Blood” though “Dead of Night” from 1945 was the first of this type of film. The horror subjects of witchcraft, vampires, wax museums, and murder are bound by the emotions of fear, jealousy, and greed that provide the basis for this movie. Each story leads to a much darker story, until the final one finally reveals the truth about the house to one man, who is skeptical about the house's claims, an inspector from Scotland Yard on … [Read more...]

As the opening strains of Cat Stevens singing 'But I Might Die Tonight' drift effectively over tracking shots of red water pipes, interspersed with the sight of principal actor John Moulder Brown cycling through a suburban not-quite-London wasteland that could be either South Norwood or the borders of Margate and Broadstairs by my reckoning (according to the IMDB it's Fulham, but I'm not convinced this refers to the exteriors), it becomes apparent that the film we are about to see is something … [Read more...]