The Ghost Within

Honestly, the protagonist is terrible. You kind of the get the vibe of generally what happened, though not in detail, early in the beginning of the film. It's one of the horror movies where I felt annoyed by the protagonist which is always a death sentence. Everything horrible that happened in the movie is essentially the protagonist's fault without any redeeming quality to be seen. Some of the protagonist's husband's actions seem even warranted. To make matters worse, this movie takes itself too seriously. The combination of an unlikable protagonist, dumb script, cheap jump scares, and a sense of self-importance is a recipe for a disastrous horror movie. Avoid this movie.

This is obviously a very low budget production made by an amateur team. For that, it is a decent movie. The lead actress is very good and managed to breathe life into the absolutely abysmal script. I know you have to make allowances for budget but there is no excuse for this script. It is like something written by a GCSE student. Terrible. Sadly, the awful script sucks out any potential horror, leaving a very bland offering. 10 out of 10 to the actors for doing a very good job of trying to breathe life into this absolutely awful script. I'm sure better parts await you. As an aside, The house

was cool.

Ugh, talk about a convoluted mess of a story that tries to be multiple things but ends up being nothing. The Ghost Within had a promising premise, the trailer showcasing traits of a ghost story like The Grudge in terms of effects and storyline, a mystery to be solved, but it just flops all the way with its bad development.

Director Lawrence Fowler being a Best Feature Film winner in the British Horror Award for The Jack in the Box (2019) - which later became a franchise; and the fact that Lawrence is prominent in horror -, I would expect better quality. But The Ghost Within is just full of failed attempts to get something going.

The story follows Margot Richardson, a traumatized adult coping with some event from her childhood that she blocked in her mind. She wants closure to move on (and also to avoid getting locked up in an asylum), so she is determined to get back to her childhood house and let her mind unblock itself to reveal the ultimate truth about her sister's murder.

A murder mystery that drives a ghost, haunting story. Pretty cool concept and one that works. But that is the only redeeming factor about this movie, everything else just goes downhill.

For starters, Margot is annoying as hell. Yes, yes, she needs psychological help, but she just plays it out by being a huge b-rather than clinically unstable. Her dialogues are either too expository or mumbo jumbo nonsense to get what she wants, without any real depth to her character other than just showing that she is, well, annoying.

Speaking of exposition, the way the story exposes facts is right on our faces. So, Margot and her husband Mason (Margot and Mason, M and M? Okay....) move to Margot's inherited childhood house so she can just wait for her mind to flip and reveal its hidden secrets. Everything seems to be left as it was, I don't remember if someone was living there and died right before she was able to move in, or if the house was just left like that for some 20 years, who knows, but the fact is that everything is just sitting there, untouched, clean and sound. Some expository newspaper clippings are also available there somehow, I wonder who left it there for our main character to find it out and read some expository news revealing some facts about the murder.

Margot also does a fine job explaining things to her husband Mason, which somehow has no idea with whom he has married to. I mean, I'm married, and my wife know a lot of stuff about my past and vice-versa. Hell, how come Margot was able to hide that she came from a wealthy family, considering her father was trialed for murder, a famous one in the story, is beyond me. But, hey, let's let it slide for the sake of character motivations.

One redeeming factor is the horror element. Yeah, it is Jumpscare Town, but some of the effects are pretty cool. After The Grudge and The Ring, I have a crush on entities that walk like freaking spiders.

However, the story itself is too convoluted.

Margot is on reactive mode for most of the storyline. When she takes some action, we are introduced to a paranormal investigation subplot that ends in nothings.

In fact, all subplots end in nothing. Mason's subplot ends in the most absurd way. The paranormal subplot, as aforementioned, also ends without closure. Same goes for supporting characters' subplots.

Which then should lead us to the main plot, a predictable ending and the quickest char dev ever finishing the movie abruptly and unsatisfactory.

Wrap 103min of movie runtime with Michaela Longden's horrible acting - probably misdirection from Lawrence - and you get this s---show. Seriously, the acting is subpar to the point that I wanted to punch the pillow or something.

The Ghost Within fails in all aspects, an unrevised, unfinished subproduct that required better polishing and better tie-in. If it were to focus on developing the main plot on top of Margot's development, it would be predictable but at least solid. In its current state, unbearable.

This British film doesn't have much to offer and is a simple ghost story that sticks to the basics and traditions. It's a moderately budgeted film that is well made and not badly produced. There's good pacing, good jump scares and a great atmosphere that's full of tension. The scenes of Evie wearing her mask are the best because of how mysterious and creepy she is. It's a minimally decent horror film. The story of Margot being haunted by the spirit of her deceased sister is good, but it feels predictable from the start. The weak point of this film is that it has quite a few things that have been seen in other films before. Much of the plot is predictable and the film makes up for it with a plot twist that is not very impressive. It must be said that The Ghost Within feels like one of those horror movies from the 2000s and that makes it an unappealing movie for someone who is expecting to see something in keeping with the 2020s. If you are someone who wants to see something similar to what was seen in horror cinema from the 2000s, the movie is adequate. But if you are looking to see something different from everything already seen, the movie is disappointing. The Ghost Within is a movie that offers nothing new and is ideal for those who want to see a ghost story like any other. It is not exactly bad, but you cannot expect much from it. My final rating for this movie is a 7/10.

Movie has many plot holes that start right from the beginning, that make it confusing and hard to get into. They bring up a family tragedy right away but when the tragedy is revealed, the main character's husband acts as it it is the first time he heard of it? It is also predictable in regards to its use of scare tactics and setting up the mystery of the murderer. The ghost is supposed to be of a little girl only the ghost seems much older, which takes away from the story. The theatrics of the creaking floor, moving doors and strange noises are overplayed and low budget at best. I have no idea how this movie could garner anything greater that one star.