O Canal

Despite some of the poor reviews I've read here, I found this to be a completely coherent and excellent psychological Thriller/Horror movie! Yes you will see some themes borrowed from other films, but let's be honest every movie does that. The cinematography was amazing. The score was arranged with a lot of attention to details and made it perfect backdrop to the film. Transitions and shadows were creepy and eerie. About the only thing that annoyed me what's the editing in which the way the editor wood chop out frames causing a time jump effect. This worked okay as a transition but awful during actress dialogue. All in all it was a great movie.

This is definitely a more familiar sort of slow-paced, atmospheric horror, but like so many of its kind, when done right they really work. This isn't a slam dunk or anything, but it's pretty effective for what it is. If you really don't overthink everything, you sort of know everything that is going on, but it doesn't matter. It has some truly strong performances here, and the atmosphere allows for some really creepy scenes to ensue. The climax could use from even more outlandish material, but as it is it makes its point and is pretty effective. For horror fans this is recommended, and for everyone else, well, look as to what types of films you like.

The family man David (Rupert Evans) and his pregnant wife Alice (Hannah Hoekstra) buy an old house nearby a canal to raise a family of their own. Five years later, their son Billy is the pride and joy of the family. David works archiving and editing films for his partner and friend Claire (Antonia Campbell-Hughes). When she gives a reel of a 1902 footage to work, David learns that his house was the place of a violent murder. This discover haunts David that sees a stranger inside his house threatening his son. When he finds that Alice is cheating on him with her client Alex (Carl Shaaban), David sees the stranger killing Alice and becomes obsessed to find who the suspect might be. Meanwhile he becomes the prime suspect of the police with his disturbed attitudes.

"The Canal" is an ambiguous horror movie with the story of a man that has a breakdown after learning that his home was the place of a brutal murder in 1902 and that his beloved wife is cheating on him. The story of haunting, obsession and madness has a confused screenplay and slow pace. But the acting and the dark cinematography make worthwhile watching this movie with low expectation and have a surprise. The creepy conclusion is the ambiguity of the story. Was David really insane? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Canal" ("The Canal")

I don't know why the IMDb score and Metacritic score are so low on this one. That's one of the reasons I put off watching it for a while but I'm so glad I finally got around to seeing it; it's one of the better horror films of recent years, and I'm a huge horror junkie. If you like disturbing horror that gets under your skin and doesn't rely on jump scares or constant gore then this is for you. The film is beautifully shot and has some exceptionally creepy visuals. It's sporadically violent and cruel but every moment of blood letting or grotesquerie is expertly handled and actually frightening rather than pure gross-out. I urge you not to watch the trailer as it contains spoilers I wish I hadn't known before going into it. If you want to know what to expect, I'd say it's got elements of films such as The Shining and The Ring, but it has a very unique feel. There's a nice dose of drama along with the horror and Rupert Evans is thoroughly believable and engaging in the lead role, much more so than your average modern horror protagonist. Highly recommended!

But as others have noted rushes towards the finish line (which is a good thing). But there are a few hurdles the movie has to overcome to win over the viewer. And it might not even achieve this. Not everyone has the patience to wait for a movie to pick up. Especially after not only a slow start, but a character that seems to be doing as many wrong things he can do wrong.

But if you overlook that typical horror movie cliché and can wait for the movie to really pick up, you will like where it goes eventually. The direction is decent and the acting is good too. The story is not really inventive, but moves the film along nicely. There are few good scares along the way and the mentioned ending is really good