Means well, but is ultimately a flawed jumbled mess.
Just a quick review on the film as I have to run out for some lunch, I got to watch a copy of this at work, I knew nothing about the plot or who starred in it and made it, which I consider one of the best way to appreciate films. It follows a young ghost hunter in post WWI England who gets hired to investigate strange occurrences in a boys boarding school. I won't go into detail over plot, all I'll say is that it walks the line between predictability and innovation, unfortunately treading mainly on territory we've seen before with much more impact (The Orphanage springs to mind). By the end of the film the plot is such a tangled mess covered with plot holes, if I didn't have to watch it for work I'd have walked out. Dominic West provides a few unintentional laughs at the start but luckily improves as the film goes on, Rebecca Hall works pretty well as the cynic who starts to doubt her scientific beliefs, but overall I'd say the supporting cast were stronger than either of the leads with Imelsa Staunton up to her usual standard. The script is a mess and in dire need of a re-write, the second half in particular, and while the directing seems adequate, it is ultimately flat and boring. I wasn't scared, psychologically or otherwise, at any point in the film. I give it a 4 out of ten for effort, production values were nice, the building they used was a great location, but ultimately it loses its self in all its twists and turns, which I could follow, but we're clichéd and tired, leaving this viewer unengaged and ultimately unimpressed. A wasted opportunity.
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