The Gatehouse

This is an odd one to review, because I feel like it should be recommended, despite the fact that it's not really more than 60% successful. It is unquestionably flawed throughout and yet worth watching and enjoyable regardless. I felt such a strong respect for not only the bits writer/director Martin Gooch got right, but for what he was attempting during the bits where he failed.

The very young actress Scarlett Rayner is the one element that is perfect from start to finish. And there are some particularly good supporting characters. But a fairy-tale tone in a realistically grounded film is a serious challenge to even attempt, let alone pull off as successively as is accomplished here. Plot holes, underdeveloped character motivations and unjustified behaviors, and, of course, an excessive over reliance on "bad dreams" to add some horror/scary scenes that otherwise serve no purpose except to provide good trailer moments are all here as well. I noticed them. I'm not denying them. And yet... even simply cranking out this review tempts me to watch the film again.

The movie overall was pretty decent and I wished they fleshed it out a bit more. The guardian of the forest needed a better costume to be more believable. Heck if it was made with CGI it would of looked scarier. However, this is not a big budget film so we got what we got. The young actress was had a spunky personality and she made the story flow better than the dad in the film. Again, I wished they fleshed out the story a bit more with lore. I would recommend this to anyone that has some free time and wants to be entertained a bit.

This movie had so much potential as an M Night-esque feature. It went astray because the style changed many times throughout. The ambiance and theme was never consistent. The one redeeming factor was the young girl actor, Scarlett Rayner. She was a cute and funny little "Brat". I hope to see her in many more films in the future. I hope a bigger studio picks this up and remakes it into the fantasy/adventure "Dark Tale" it deserves to be.

That about sums it up.... It would have been more fun if she hadn't been such a little monster with a doormat for a father...

It is definitely a one and done for me....

As others have said, its too dark for a kids movie (not to mention the horrible example the girl's behavior is) and too dumb for an adult movie...

It could have been really good if handled better, or at least a few adjustments made. It's hard to care about a spoiled brat, and other dislikable, uninteresting characters. The concept itself is intriguing, which is the only reason I stuck it out. But the execution overall disappointing.

A truly good film, superbly acted, well scripted, delightfully atmospherically shot, some of the locations (The New Forest, or the Weald I think) are beautifully caught, all in all, a gem among some of the dross found on Amazon Prime. It is a little 'clunky' at times, though on the whole, the film is a great success. the spooks are genuine, the film is well-paced, builds along nicely. The acting is staggeringly good, especially the turn from the young lass.