2011’s THE AWAKENING is a ghostly stunner that stars the ever reliable Rebecca Hall (also splended in 2020's NIGHT HOUSE) and was at least partially written by Stephen Volk the brains behind 1992’s essential made for TV mind-screw GHOST WATCH. The year is 1921 and hard nosed proto ghostbuster Florence Cathcart (Hall) is summoned to a boy’s boarding school thought to be haunted. An orphan herself, struggling with the memory of a fiancé who passed away, Cathcart gains a confidant and love interest in the injured and enigmatic Robert Mallory (Dominic West). The two eventually figure out that all of the ghostly activity can be summed up as the result of a child’s prank but just as she is preparing to pack up and go home everything in her world is turned on its head (and then some). This is a great looking movie with some very memorable visuals and more than a few outstanding performances. Anyone who enjoys a classic approach to haunting tales should seek it out ASAP (more HERE)
IN 2005’s FRAGILE, Calista Flockhart (I know we all want to forget ALLY McBEAL but she’s actually good in this) plays nurse Amy Nicholls who has recently started working the night shift at an unnervingly grim children's hospital that is in the midst of packing up and closing down. The children speak of a ghostly presence that lingers on the abandoned second floor named Charlotte who is creepily described as a "mechanical" girl. By all appearances this spirit seems to be raging against being left behind and has taken to smashing bones and throwing people out windows. Of course, nothing is as it seems, there is a mystery that must be solved and Amy must separate the hospital's woeful history from the guilty baggage she brought with her. Fragile goes to some seriously dank, dark and convincingly eerie, seriously scary places and like all the best ghost stories it has a tragic heart that plays with your sympathies as much as your fears. Directed by the hugely talented Jaume Balaquero who delivered the horrifying adaptation of Ramsey Campbell's THE NAMELESS, the flawed but atmospheric DARKNESS and the instant classic [REC] (Full review HERE).
2007’s WIND CHILL finds two young college students (Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes who remain nameless throughout) who only vaguely know sharing a car ride to their respective homes for Christmas vacation. Strange behavior and paranoia eventually infest the journey and when the car crashes and the couple find themselves trapped in the middle of nowhere during a blinding storm, things get spooky. It’s admittedly refreshing to experience a ghostly tale that doesn’t utilize the old dark house setting and something about the idea of being lost and not being able to even clearly see a couple feet in front of you is genuinely unnerving. The resolution (or lack there of) may be too murky and undefined for some but I found the lack of definition sort of the whole eerie, dream-like point.
2016’s WE GO ON is from the same folks (Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton) who delivered the challenging YELLOWBRICKROAD (2010), It’s a wonderful ghost story that remarkably pushes the ancient art form into spaces I have never seen it occupy before. It's all about the pluses and minuses in believing in the great beyond and it pushes the idea that the further you step into the unknown the more you may find your safe seat of sanity dissolving in this plane. WE GO ON features the immensely talented Annette O'Toole (CAT PEOPLE) who deserves accolades and a half for her flawless work here. She's so darn good and she's in some fine company; Clark Freeman and Laura Heisler who were both in YELLOWBRICKROAD are welcome returners and as if we could dare ask for more, living legend character actor John (GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH) Glover is on hand to steal a few scenes too. If you prefer the chilly, cerebral, slow boil side of the horror bed you should tuck yourself into WE GO ON if you can track it down. It has so much more to offer than scares, it's the type of horror movie that keeps you up at night trying to close the doors it opened in your head.
2011’s found footage horror film GRAVE ENCOUNTERS works as a clever parody of your typical paranormal ghost hunting show. There's a phony shit shoveling psychic and an amusing scene where the host pays off a gardener to lie through his teeth about his experiences. The "Grave Encounters" crew (who stand in dramatic, ready-for-action poses) are filming their sixth episode in an abandoned mental hospital that they find out is indeed seriously haunted. What ensues, though never fully believable, is so fun and gleefully spooky that you'll feel like a kid running through a neighborhood haunted-house on Halloween. You know it's not real, but you can't help getting into the frenetic spirit anyway. Not only are the shock scares surprisingly effective, but this movie also plays with your mind pretty good too. The asylum turns into a trippy maze of sorts and things get eerily surreal and the feeling of being trapped is palpable. The authentic setting, not unlike the one employed in SESSION 9 is an indisputably unnerving place but unlike many films of its ilk the cast is likable enough that your stay in this maddening place will be if not peasant, than at least tolerable (more HERE).
Wait, why do we want to forget Ally McBeal? Peter MacNicol falling out of his chair and screaming like a woman and Calista Flockhart kicking that little person in the back until he flew face first into the wall were two of the hardest times I've ever laughed. Unkle needs a rewatch!