A Haunting at the Rectory (2015) Directed by Andrew Jones
European- and British horror movies in general often differ quite a lot from the average Hollywood (low-budget) production. And while most of the time that is a good thing and makes the movie unique and refreshing to watch, it at other times still falls flat, which definitely is being the case for this movie as well.
Don't even really know what to make of this movie. I mean, it is clearly advertised as a standard horror production with its title and cover but in truth there actually is very little horror present throughout the movie. I most definitely won't call this a horror production, though I am still unsure on what to call it instead. In a lot of ways it is more a drama, with its many talkative scenes and characters. And of course there is nothing wrong with that, were it not for the fact that most of the dialog and drama seems to be about absolutely nothing. The movie is never taking its story into any interesting directions and makes the movie a bore to watch instead.
This definitely could have worked out as an intriguing movie, if only the story was made a tad bit more interesting, with some more intriguing characters, dialog and thought provoking elements in it. But the movie as it is a quite shallow one, that just doesn't ever seem to move ahead, since things hardly ever develop. It does an incredibly poor job handling its mystery and tension, next to that. It is therefore nothing more but a shallow and boring movie, that does not only fall flat as a horror, but also as a drama and thriller, or whatever else it was trying to be.
Another big reason why the movie just doesn't work really is its main character. He is supposed to be mysterious, manipulative, even perhaps scary, but he works out as neither of those things. Like the rest of the movie, he is incredibly flat and uninteresting. The movie fails to ever make him an intriguing character, even though there is plenty of mystery surrounding his personality. Not only the writing's fault but also really the actor's, Lee Bane, who fails to bring his character to live.
It is a very slow movie. Despite the fact that it is only about 90 minutes short it still feels far too long. It also does make the movie a bore and a drag to watch. There besides is never anything good or interesting happen to spice things up, even just a little bit. It is a very unsuccessful and odd combination of dry drama and paranormal horror. But I have a very strong feeling that it also wouldn't have worked out very well if it had either gone for a complete drama or horror approach. The film-making is just far too uninspired for that. It is not like they weren't trying, it is just that the talent really isn't there, which becomes painfully obvious pretty early on already.
A movie best to be avoided, especially if you expect to get a standard low-budget horror production.
3/10
Watch trailer
Don't even really know what to make of this movie. I mean, it is clearly advertised as a standard horror production with its title and cover but in truth there actually is very little horror present throughout the movie. I most definitely won't call this a horror production, though I am still unsure on what to call it instead. In a lot of ways it is more a drama, with its many talkative scenes and characters. And of course there is nothing wrong with that, were it not for the fact that most of the dialog and drama seems to be about absolutely nothing. The movie is never taking its story into any interesting directions and makes the movie a bore to watch instead.
This definitely could have worked out as an intriguing movie, if only the story was made a tad bit more interesting, with some more intriguing characters, dialog and thought provoking elements in it. But the movie as it is a quite shallow one, that just doesn't ever seem to move ahead, since things hardly ever develop. It does an incredibly poor job handling its mystery and tension, next to that. It is therefore nothing more but a shallow and boring movie, that does not only fall flat as a horror, but also as a drama and thriller, or whatever else it was trying to be.
Another big reason why the movie just doesn't work really is its main character. He is supposed to be mysterious, manipulative, even perhaps scary, but he works out as neither of those things. Like the rest of the movie, he is incredibly flat and uninteresting. The movie fails to ever make him an intriguing character, even though there is plenty of mystery surrounding his personality. Not only the writing's fault but also really the actor's, Lee Bane, who fails to bring his character to live.
It is a very slow movie. Despite the fact that it is only about 90 minutes short it still feels far too long. It also does make the movie a bore and a drag to watch. There besides is never anything good or interesting happen to spice things up, even just a little bit. It is a very unsuccessful and odd combination of dry drama and paranormal horror. But I have a very strong feeling that it also wouldn't have worked out very well if it had either gone for a complete drama or horror approach. The film-making is just far too uninspired for that. It is not like they weren't trying, it is just that the talent really isn't there, which becomes painfully obvious pretty early on already.
A movie best to be avoided, especially if you expect to get a standard low-budget horror production.
3/10
Watch trailer
