The Gatehouse

What a surprise! I thought this was a children's movie, right up until the first 'f bomb' that is. During the first few minutes I had no idea what I was watching; children's, horror, fantasy, folk horror, family drama or one of half a dozen other movie genres briefly flickered across my mind. What I did know was that it was very English and pretty good.

Matters quickly settle and we see, 10-year-old schoolgirl, Eternity Winter, played by a larger-than-life Scarlett Rayner, searching for treasure in the forest which surrounds her home, The Gatehouse. She needs the treasure to help her cash strapped and grieving Dad with his finances. The spirit of Eternity's dead mother pops up now and again with timely advice for her. Eternity eventually does find treasure but the forest spirit wants it back.

It's a plot which could be dropped into any woodland setting, but writer and director Martin Gooch applies layer upon layer of Englishness and we quickly find ourselves unable to view The Gatehouse as anything but British. Eternity's father played by Simeon Willis literally walks through 1000s of years of English history, Eternity's school and school uniform are clearly borrowed from Roland Searle's St Trinian's stories and illustrations, there is a scene straight from Boorman's classic movie Excalibur, the humour is of that quirky, peculiar British type, perhaps think Terry Pratchett and, on and on it goes. Oh, and it's all wonderful.

Rayner and Willis bounce off each other as daughter and dad, with humour and pathos. In fact, the film could have been an intense exploration of family grief. But it's not.

The spirit of the forest is perhaps the weakest aspect of the film and may be evidence of a tight budget. It is just a little shonky but is usually seen back lit so its shonkiness is hidden.

The horror tropes are rapid fire but not to the point of numbing the viewer. Conjuring evil, jump scares, alone in a dark house, alone in a dark forest, alone on a dark road, dismemberment, ancient evil, creepy children, hauntings (of sorts), sinister secondary characters, evil under the bed, nightmares bleeding into real life and so on. In fact, a willing drama teacher could develop an interesting unit on horror tropes in general as encountered in The Gatehouse. Jack, the father, even picks up some hack work completing another author's novel after the original author dies mysteriously. The novel, a fantasy / horror work, is referred to as 'legend of the black flowers'!

The pacing is solid and the musical score effective. The cinematography is well above average. It is a beautifully shot film.

I don't want to oversell The Gatehouse. It does have problems. There is the subpar spirit of the forest costume. The film can feel picaresque'ish', a little episodic. There is probably a little too much in the 97 minute running time. Some more brutal editing might have helped this.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must declare that The Gatehouse does tick a few boxes for me personally. It's English, it's a horror movie and it's quirky. If the opportunity presents, give it a try. (I watched it on Prime.) There is a lot in The Gatehouse which is both entertaining and worth watching.

This is a british flick that twists and boogies around many genres, its surtainly mystery,a little bit of comedy and adventure and most of all spooky and a hint of sheer horror. its said to be a family film, but i would have hesitated showing this to children under 6.

its a widower and his 10 yrs old daughter who struggles to make a life out of nothing.,something goes really bad,and the surroundings becomes ominous and spooky. its a nightmare inside a nightmare of a nightmare that rides them both.

the highlight in this film is the girl at 10 portrayed by scarlett rayner, who has her rucksack full of talent,and a lot of the action gravitates around her.very good.rest of the cast are merely just there with hints of old greatness,and also some stiff and uncomfortable newbies.

the technical product varies a lot, there are a few scenes that has been spiced up with some visuall effects, but they are really primitive. there are some nature shots that are smashing, rest is on average. the soundwork could at times have been better,but the sound effects plus a very well timed music gives you a thrill for sure. the story or fairytail are not of the memorable kind,and maybe a bit difficult to understand.

by all means do view if you want to, there are a few surprises,but not enough for me to make a review. 4 is the most i can give......

Amid all the garbage "horror" on Amazon Prime pops up this gem. Great story, great characters and beautifully shot in an atmospheric rural setting, this movie is a good one. No over the top slasher scenes, no absurd plot twists, just a cool story about primeval forest gods who protect what's theirs. Watch it.

This movie really doesn't know what it wants to be. Although at first glance a "folk horror" movie (as it is called these days) the movie immediately unfolds as a sort of dark fairy tale for child and teen audience. The problem is the movie is simply too explicit (in language and gruesome scenes) for younger audiences but too silly if not downright stupid for adults.

The acting is atrocious with the exception of the main character Eternity (who names his children like that ??). Even though she is incredibly annoying, at lteast the actress does a good job of making the best of the silly material she is given. She doesn't seem iompressed if some make-up wearing freak (a supposed 'witch', another of the many ridiculous scenes in the second half of the movie) shows up at her front door, nor if the 'monster' shows up in her bed room.

After like 3/4 of the movie I simply couldn't care anymore. I'm surprised I'm the only 1 star review here. Just avoid. I really wish I could get a lobotomy to erase this piece of garbage from my mind.

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.