New Release Review: Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories

(2018. Directors: Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson  Starring: Andy Nyman, Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther)

SYNOPSIS:
Professor Philip Goodman (Andy Nyman) has dedicated his life to debunking the supernatural. After being sent to investigate three creepy unsolved cases he finds that these mysteries may not be as simple to solve as they appear.

Why do we tell ghost stories?

For as long as humans have told stories to each other we have delighted in scaring the pants (or pantaloons or loincloths or whatever) off of each other. What really is the attraction of inspiring such uncomfortable sensations in ourselves? In Medieval Europe a popular phenomenon in art was Memento Mori which roughly translates as 'Remember you will die.' It's thought that this movement to incorporate skulls and other signs of decay into artworks was intended to remind those viewing it of the transient nature of the material world and the vanity of seeking worldy power when we will all end up in the same ground eventually. It's chilling stuff and I can't help but feel that these same thoughts were preying on the minds of Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson when they created Ghost Stories.

Ghost Stories was first conceived as a stage play and went on to become a huge success garnering awards and critical praise. This was at least in part due to the way that all aspects of the plot were kept completely secret and only photos of terrified audience members were released to the press (the kind of gloriously hokey marketing technique that would make camp horror legend William Castle proud.) Adapting it for the screen has meant that the cinematic influences on the plot and staging become even more apparent. This has both positive and negative effect on the film. On one hand it positions the film as a sort of loving tribute to the entire history of horror storytelling and classic British horror cinema in particular (a genre which hasn't really haunted our screens for far too long.) However, the downside to this is that while watching each of the three short films that Ghost Stories builds itself around you can't help but be reminded of the previous films which dealt with similar ideas in more effective and original ways.

The first of these tales involves a guilt-ridden Nightwatchman who has a ghostly encounter while working alone in an abandoned old mental hospital (as I said, originality is not these stories' strong suit). It features Paul Whitehouse as the taciturn security guard (coming straight after his appearance in The Death of Stalin where he similarly mixed smirks with terror.) It's the most pulse pounding of the three chapters as Dyson and Nyman wring every drop of tension out of the scene's setting as we're drawn into staring deep into the gloomy shadows hoping and dreading to find an answer.

This is followed by the story of an outcast teenager with parental issues who experiences a demonic encounter while out driving at night. The young Alex Lawther gives the films best performance as the troubled kid (at times he seems to be channelling Jeremy Dyson's old writing partner Reece Shearsmith as he struggles to conceal the insanity building under a rictus smile). This chapter has the creepiest intro out of the three but begins to peter out as it goes on (that said, it does score the films biggest laughs.) The final case is that of a smug stockbroker (played with snivelling glee by Martin Freeman) who is experiencing a poltergeist in his large plush estate as he awaits the birth of his first child. This story is probably the weakest executed of the three (or maybe each story's structure of clever slow buildup leading to a single big jump scare and then ending abruptly is just becoming too familiar by this point) but it does begin the film's sudden tone shift from simply telling scary stories to questioning what it all means.

At first it appears as if the story of Prof. Goodman investigating each of these spooky tales is simply a smart bookend to set up a typical horror anthology in the vein of Dead of Night or Dr Terror's House of Horrors (and the 'real life investigation' angle can't help but remind viewers of a certain age of the infamous Ghostwatch which ruined many a childhood in the 90s.) However around each of the stories we get scenes of Prof. Goodman investigating them and there is a growing sense that there is more to his desire to solve these cases than simply professional curiosity. This leads us to the films unexpected fourth act where the reason for the good Professor's rising dread is revealed and each of the previous stories is linked together in a revelation of a more personal and existential horror at the film's core.

This is the moment that can make or break a film. Up until this point the film would have succeeded at simply been a solidly entertaining, if lightweight, celebration of our bizarre love of the things that go bump in the night (much like Jeremy Dyson's previous work on The League of Gentlemen). This final chapter suggests that the whole film has loftier ambitions to query the value and meaning of storytelling if not that of life itself. Do we tell stories to try to find some sort of hidden truth or do we tell them to obscure the truths which are too painful to be observed directly. It's heady stuff and makes the film a far more interesting affair which weaves it's way into your psyche and sits there uncomfortably long after the credits roll. Unfortunately this is also the section of the film where it's original purpose as a stage show becomes most apparent and much of the imagery which would have looked bold and startling on stage comes across as a bit silly when stretched across the big screen. It all feels so overly dramatic as to start to feel somewhat detached and you find yourself too busy puzzling it out to really engage with it emotionally. This ending also sadly robs the earlier scenes of some of their mysterious power by explaining away everything we've seen before (Andy Nyman's previous career as a stage magician and current work as Derren Brown's co-writer and producer suggest that maybe he couldn't resist cramming in one final rug-pulling 'prestige' moment on the audience but it belies an unfortunate lack of confidence in everything he and Dyson have successfully built earlier in the film). For a film which begins with it's protagonist being lectured by his mentor that he is destroying the wonder and mystery of the world by arrogantly demanding a plausible explanation for every strange moment of it, it's ironic that it makes the exact same mistake that it warns against. Maybe Ghost Stories, much like the unfortunate Professor Philip Goodman, is just too damn smart for it's own good.

Review by The Mogul.