Spirit Trap

Standard haunted house thriller, but since it is a British flick, much of he dialogue is unintelligible. What it boils down to is several attractive youths move in an abandoned House where murder has been committed in the past. Each has his/her own shady story to tell. Some people die, and spirits abound. The sets are impressive, reminding me of Hammer's Dracula castle sets. The always attractive Billie Piper plays a psychic, and is the main reason for watching this turkey. A couple of halfway decent sex scenes keep one's interest from totally flagging. Shot in Romania, apparently on a set left over from another movie. Now that's economizing! That's how THE TERRROR with Jack Nicholsoand and Boris Karloff got made.

After seeing the advert for 'Spirit Trap' in my local Cinema, I already had low hopes for the film. And it certainly did not disappoint. Its almost as if the director sat down and said to himself "How should i not make a film?" and then proceeded to film everything he thought of.

The center point of the film, the haunted house, looks like a set used in amateur theatre with over exaggerated lighting effects and tacky looking decor. The editing was appalling, cutting from scene to scene every few seconds, and lets just not mention the acting.

Overall, the film feels fake, bland, lacks a decent storyline and generally feels like something a 10 year old could think up with no problem.

Having been given free tickets to see this film, I decided to go and see it.

Granted, it wasn't the worst film I've ever seen however I felt that the plot was weak. The setting of a creepy old house was fantastic and having that mysterious locked door really did seem to feed on the audience's fear. The dream sequences were nicely done, as were the flashback scenes. Superb performances from Emma Catherwood.

Billie Piper was far better in Doctor Who and although there is nothing directly bad about her acting there is also nothing particularly great either. I'm no prude by all means but I thought this film would be more suited to an 18 certificate...

I would say this film is worth seeing once but not twice.

Spirit Trap is a typical, contemporary ghost story where everything is a result of something horrible, that has happened in the past and most of the film's runtime is used to unlock the secret. Usually most ghost stories resemble the classic horror movies about a haunted mansion, surrounded by darkness and mystery. Spirit Trap is a modern version of The Hauting. At least the first 20-25 minutes will be very familiar and probably boring for Haunting fans.

Four students receive a phone call and are offered lodging in an old, creepy house. Of course, they are all different and problems occurs immediately after the house's newest inhabitants learn about the presence of a drug dealer as their co-tenant. Later on, one of the teens fixes a spirit clock and now he is able to witness the events that has taken part many years ago. The characters are now convinced that the house is haunted by ghosts.

To be honest, I watched the movie out of desperation. I didn't have the time to pick up another horror movie and Spirit Trap was the only possibility. The movie is not bad. It ain't good either. Decent horror flick for time killing. One thing that managed to surprise me was the acting. Better than I asked for. Completely unknown actors give everything to recreate realism.

We should also take notice on the fact that the movie is British. In my opinion, most good horror flicks come from Britain these days. Yes, Spirit Trap is not among the good lists of great horror movies, but it could have been much worse if it looked like most American ghost stories.

I applaud the idea of putting more depth into a rather dull story, but the plot loses its potential soon after the creators create sub-plots concerning the characters's past. The main girl has killed her mother, the drug dealer's wife doesn't love him and stuff like that. Cheap tries of dry, needless drama that has absolutely nothing to do with what we cheer for when it comes to ghost flicks.

I won't recommend Spirit Trap to anyone, but calling it bad is a big mistake. It tries something new and even though it fails in provoking the viewer, it includes scenes that worth a look.

Nice to see more and more British fantasy films appearing and this one is not so bad. Certainly as good as most American B-Movies of similar ilk and most definitely better than many reviews on this site suggest. Story is perhaps a touch clichéd and generic but, hell, isn't that part and parcel of genre. Haunted House stories do tend to contain haunted houses, and they tend to be haunted by spirits, and these movies appeal to teens and younger adults so they tend to feature teens and younger adults as main characters. It's also a no-brainer to realise that these characters need to make some mistakes in order to activate the BAD THINGS that happen, hence that is what happens. Call it generic or call it derivative, so what? That's the genre. Admitedly, tension isn't built up so well, not much in the way of scares and only a light smattering of atmosphere, but it looks okay and the acting is undoubtedly better than most of the posters on this site are suggesting. Could I possibly ask that reviewers from places other than a film's country of origin don't immediately dismiss UK actors as unknowns just because they are not Keira Knightly, Daniel Craig or Hugh Grant? Billie Piper was certainly less known prior to Doctor Who but it's been a good decade since she was unknown. Sam Troughton and some of the others have also built up a reasonable body of work. Piper is decent in this - some suggest not as good as in Doctor Who - I would point out that most people should shine in Doctor Who because it's so well directed, written, constructed, etc. Piper doesn't shine in this because 'Spirit Trap' just isn't in the same league but it doesn't mean she isn't good. Also liked Troughton. Is this film a waste of time? No! It ain't a classic but it's not so bad. Give it a go, it won't kill you.