WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Ghost stories. Whether heard around a smoldering campfire, seen in the confines of a dark movie theater, witnessed on the television while curled up on the couch with the popcorn and soda in hand at home, read in literature, or simply experienced in recollections from childhood as our parents attempted to frighten us into submission, it is a legacy of spookiness that passes down through generations. Then, there is also the long-standing rumblings of specific locales which are said to be the playground for spirits both fun and foul, whose disembodied existence remains to either foster remembrance of long ago times or foreboding warnings of deadly circumstances past and present. Such as it is at a certain hotel in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, a grand and elegant place that has now birthed a history of having its guests and staff encountering restless apparitions, for good and ill. These are their stories. Are you prepared?
Next, my Mind:
While it may be definitively British via its wry, cheeky, even utterly off-the-wall moments of witty comedic flare and satiric undertones, make no mistake to think that’s all you’ll have the pleasure of discovering through this absolutely clever, genre-defying, fully entertaining, anthology-driven romp that deftly circumnavigates any traditional notion of ghost stories, instead delivering a beautifully crafted journey that brings about atmospheres eerie and poignant, realistic and fantastical, harsh and heartening, all thanks to a host of smartly presented segments that highlight one hotel’s ongoing trysts with the supernatural. Brought to life by directors Amy L. Feeley, Joshua Dickinson, Jean Campbell Hogg, Adam Collier, Deveril, Jane Gull, Joshua Carver, and Toby Roberts along with writers Robbie Sunderland, Amy L. Feeley, Daphne Fox, Victoria Manthorpe, Joshua Dickinson, Paul Saxton, Thomas Winward, and Stephen Henning, producers Nick Woolgar, Julien Mery, and Matthew McGuchan sew it all up into one contiguous tale of fright and fancy.
The wonders of the thematic odyssey we find ourselves on as the viewer carries with it no small weight, as eight tales of otherworldly confrontations span an overall period of almost two centuries in the history of the hotel’s existence, weaving accounts that touch upon paranormal investigators, our own addictions and self-inflicted fears, paranoia, voyeurism, shadows of loss, cycles of our own messes created and the subsequent undoing of our own futures because of it, finding purpose and meaning in life, lost love and letting go, and paying the heavy eternal price of our misdeeds. Expounded on with intentionally deliberate, fast-paced, relatable sensibilities that assuredly drive home the ultimate morals of each story, the greater narrative remains engaging, stirring, creepy, jocular, dramatic, hilarious, or a combination of all of that as the individual stories knit together a grander portrait of what it is to be human and the measure of impact our choices can have on us, not just in the present, but even on those in the future.
Again, the fascination and delight here is found in the wealth of diversity each anecdote brings to us, keeping not just the brisk pacing of the film’s 95-minute runtime flowing smoothly, but allowing there to be that “a little something for everyone” mentality encapsulated within it while still consistently focusing on the primary foundational concept of a haunted hotel and its quite colorful history. It plays upon classic fears while exposing the realities of certain aspects of our own human nature and the influence that can have on things that end up manufactured within our own minds rather than having any actual unearthly origins. But, still, given the fact the film IS centered on said hotel, there’s plenty of ethereal presences afoot throughout which, as hinted at above, can manifest with bewitchingly sinister or mischievous intent, but also with purely innocent and affecting objectives as well. Put it this way, there was a particular segment whose sentimentality was so moving for me, it brought me to tears right after one that had me laughing up a storm.
The entire effort is beautifully staged and shot so that we gain the maximum amount of feel and visual stimulation each decade portrayed exudes along with character-centric close-ups, dialogue, and unique physicality that emphasize a given character’s or moment’s aspirations to the perfect degree so as to have the viewer’s attention drawn to it accordingly with an apropos emotional response to accompany it. The camera embraces the darker sequences with ominous stability while likewise infusing the more lighthearted or touching intervals a vibrant and dynamic life. Likewise, there is wealth of musical styles that serve as the backdrop for each environment the individual story’s elicits, again ranging far and wide from uncanny menace to absolute hysterical and everything in between, which also becomes yet another means by which this film showcases the rich distinctiveness found throughout, adding dimensions to the refreshing approaches being undertaken in this project.
Let’s talk about ensemble casts! It would take a volume just to try and truly delve with intricate detail into each and every primary performance given here, so I am honestly hoping there will be full understanding of how much this critic DID wholeheartedly love and appreciate every actor who played the lively, winning, captivating roles in this even if NOT getting to expand on each effort very far this time around. It encompassed the playful mockery of ghost hunters thanks to Angeline Hunt, Patrick Marlowe, and Roderick Smith in “The Contraption”, the painful hardship of self-made fear and the equal dangers of addiction and stress as portrayed by Geir Madland along with Dominic Taylor in “The Writer”, paranoia both imagined and real paired with unintended observances as enacted by Reece Ritchie, Richard Bates, and Amanda Wisher in “Watching”, the shadows of the past returning in unexpected yet purposeful timing with Andrew Hollingworth, Molly Scurrell, Alice Osmanski, and Joe Leat in “Room 27b”.
But, let’s not stop there. How about the nuances of room cleaning seen in a decidedly different light as experienced by Joshua Dickinson, Rocio Rodriguez-Inniss, and Agnes Lillis in “Housekeeping”, or the brilliantly conceived look at just how hard it actually IS to BE a ghost thanks to Miles Jovian and Mel Winning in “Ghost Of A Chance”, plus the utterly moving tribute to the power of lasting love and the challenge to move on from it via Hugh Fraser, Judith Sharp, Charlotte Luxford, and Matthew Wingrave-Thomas in “40 Years”, and finally the brutal reality of past crimes coming back to haunt you along with the even more disheartening final price it all costs as seen by Paul Moriarty, Nick Murray Brown, Jon McKenna, Dan Rutter, Peter Sowerbutts, Kyle Malan, Peter Byatt, Peter Purnell, and AG. Longhurst in “The Devil Inside”. Additional turns from Sophie Scannell, Kate Cook, Sapphira Marples, Basil Marples, Peter Barfield and a huge host of other supporting appearances are made here, so truthfully, a hearty “BRAVO!!” to you all.
In total, “The Haunted Hotel” is a ghostly adventure that isn’t remotely your typical escape into abject fear, nor is that its intent. Rightly so, it makes a wonderfully profound statement about the very soul of independent cinema through an innovative, unconventional perspective on preternatural themes in order to illustrate that not every brush with the unearthly need be an exercise in terror or torment. On the contrary, while it might BE that at times, it can also be whimsical and emotive, an all-encompassing journey into what it is to know both the magnificent spectacle and demanding trials that make up this thing we call life…..and perhaps afterlife as well.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
Very nice.
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