Ghost Stories (2017 film)

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Ghost Stories
Screen Yorkshire
Distributed byLionsgate
Release dates
Running time
98 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$4.2 million[2]

Ghost Stories is a 2017 British

psychics, who is tasked with solving three unexplained paranormal events. Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther and Martin Freeman co-star as the individuals who attest to the supernatural encounters.[3]

The film premiered at the London Film Festival on 5 October 2017 and was released nationwide in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2018 by Lionsgate. It received positive reviews from film critics.

Plot

In 1979, Philip Goodman's strict

caravan
, sick and impoverished. Cameron asks him to investigate three incidents of supposedly real supernatural ghost sightings.

The first case is a

night watchman, Tony Matthews, whose wife has died of cancer and who feels guilty that he stopped visiting his daughter, who suffers from locked-in syndrome. He was haunted by the spirit of a young girl while working in a disused asylum for women. The second is a teenager, Simon Rifkind, who is obsessed with the occult and has a poor relationship with his parents. His car breaks down after running over a creature in the woods. Goodman, although unsettled by the second case, believes that each of them has an obvious rational explanation: the supposed victims imagined them, based on their neuroses. The third case is a financier in the City, Mike Priddle, who was plagued by a poltergeist, while awaiting the birth of his child. His wife's ghost appeared to him as she died giving birth to an (it is implied) inhuman child. Suddenly, the financier commits suicide
with a shotgun.

Goodman returns to Cameron, who tears a

mentally disabled boy into a drain, where he died of an asthma attack
. Goodman has felt guilty all his life about his failure to rescue the victim. The decaying corpse of the bullied boy appears, tormenting Goodman and leading him to a hospital bed, where he is made to lie down. The ghoul lies on top of him and forces his finger into Goodman's mouth as Goodman cries "No, not again!" implying this is a recurring event.

In the real world, Goodman is in a hospital with tubes in his mouth. He suffers from locked-in syndrome after a suicide attempt in his car. All the characters and events Goodman has experienced were inspired by the staff and objects in his hospital room. The doctors incorrectly believe him to be in a

persistent vegetative state
with no awareness of his surroundings. The junior doctor predicts that Goodman is "here for keeps", without a chance of recovery. As he leaves the room, the senior doctor says to his junior colleague: "I hope his dreams are sweet". The hospital cleaner, in contrast, chats to Goodman and moves a mirror to give him a different view.

Cast

In order of appearance:

  • Samuel Bottomley as Young Goodman, portraying Philip Goodman as a teenager.
  • Deborah Wastell as Mrs Goodman
  • Amy Doyle as Esther Goodman
  • Daniel Hill as Mr Goodman
  • Ramzan Miah as Esther's Boyfriend
  • psychics
    and explaining paranormal events.
  • Nicholas Burns as Mark Van Rhys
  • Louise Atkins as Steph
  • Neil Finnighan as Security Guard
  • Martin Freeman as Mike Priddle/Charles Cameron
  • Christine Dalby as Beth Hooper
  • Maggie McCarthy as Jean Hooper
  • Lesley Harcourt as BBC Local Newsreader
  • Jake Davies as Desi Callahan/Kojak
  • Oliver Woollford as Nico Freer
  • Callum Goulden as Marcus Perry
  • Paul Whitehouse as Tony Matthews
  • Macie Allen as Tilly
  • Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Father Richard Emery
  • Alex Lawther as Simon Rifkind
  • Joe Osborne as Mr Rifkind
  • Maria Major as Mrs Rifkind
  • Paul Warren as Woolly
  • Ryan Oliva as Hellion
  • Emily Carding as Maria Priddle
  • Jill Halfpenny as the voice of Peggy Van Rhys
  • Anthony Davis as the voice of Radio DJ
  • Mike Aarons as the voice of Mike from Barnet
  • Derren Brown as the voice of Betty
  • Elaine Dyson as the voice of Mrs Rifkind
  • Billy Sneddon as the voice of National Breakdown Assistant Caller

Bar Mitzvah
.

Martin Freeman, Andy Nyman and one or two others on set, apparently made up the name Leonard Byrne to fool the rest of the cast, crew and media, into thinking that the character of Charles Cameron, which was actually just Martin Freeman in a prosthetic mask, was a real person. There is a real actor called Leonard Byrne who's known to Andy Nyman, but he wasn't in this film, and he wasn't credited in this film contrary to what most of the media claim.[4]

Production

Ghost Stories filmed at locations including

Harewood Estate, Harrogate and Hornsea in 2016.[5]

The exterior of pub ("The 10th Number") where Philip Goodman meets Tony Matthews was The Merry Monk at 109 Kirkstall Hill, Leeds. It was demolished in 2017.[6] The church where Goodman meets Father Richard Emery is Holy Trinity Church, Cookridge.[7]

Reception

On

weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[9]

Ghost Stories was described by Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian as "an anthology of creepy supernatural tales in the intensely English tradition of Amicus portmanteau movies from the 1960s." He gave it 4/5 stars.[10] David Stratton of The Australian also gave it 4/5 stars, writing: "This is a low-tech affair, and all the more interesting for it. You never know quite where it's going, but it doesn't let up for a moment."[11] Andrew Whalen of Newsweek wrote: "Ghost Stories has more genuine scares than most horror movies, so it almost seems a bit unfair when it's funny too."[12]

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times was more critical of the film, writing: "Managing to feel at once painfully slow and bafflingly truncated, this creaky triptych of not-so-scary tales is a tame curiosity of movie nostalgia."[13] Jake Wilson of The Age gave it 2/5 stars, writing: "It's a letdown to find that there's nothing at the bottom of a box of tricks which in themselves are not as clever as they could have been."[14]

References

  1. ^ "GHOST STORIES (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Ghost Stories (2018)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. Penske Business Media
    . Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. ^ Articles, Featured (3 April 2018). "Martin Freeman interview: Ghost Stories, Jason Statham". The Dark Carnival. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Ghost Stories". Screen Yorkshire. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  6. ^ westleedslife (2017-07-14). "Picture of the week: The death of The Merry Monk pub". West Leeds Dispatch. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  7. ^ "Cookridge: Holy Trinity". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  8. Fandango Media
    . Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  9. CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  10. Guardian News and Media
    . Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ^ Stratton, David (October 26, 2018). "Spooky tale's twists and turns". The Australian. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Whalen, Andrew (2018-04-20). "Horror anthologies are tricky, but 'Ghost Stories' gets it mostly right". Newsweek. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  13. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  14. ^ Wilson, Jake (2018-10-24). "Nothing at the bottom of Ghost Stories clever box of tricks". The Age. Retrieved 2022-04-10.

External links

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