Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Andy Nyman, Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther, Paul Warren, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Nicholas Burns, Louise Atkins, Lesley Harcourt, Amy Doyle, Deborah Wastell, Daniel Hill, Christine Dalby, Jill Halfpenny, Billy Sneddon, Maggie McCarthy, Joe Osborne, Maria Major, Ramzan Miah, Benji Ming, Emily Carding, Leonard Byrne, Macie Allen, Ryan Oliva, Samuel Bottomly, Jake Davies, Oliver Woollford, Callum Goulden, Mike Aarons, Derren Brown, Anthony Davis.
The theatrical hit does not always guarantee a great transfer to the big screen, it can lose much of its magic that was weaved in the narrow confines and the almost agoraphobic space that is between the stalls and the circle and the back wall in which the shadows lay in wait. Just because something is good in one domain, almost perfect, does not necessarily follow that it will be seen in the same light elsewhere.
That assertion cannot be labelled upon Ghost Stories, a devilish theatrical pounce into the hearts of those that had the fortune to see it on stage, now has the same effect on the nerves as its illustrious forbearer and one that brings out the incredible best of its two creators Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson.
It is not hard to understand the appeal of Ghost Stories as a play or indeed now as a film, it is that urge to be scared, to be afraid of the unknown that clings to us from childhood, it is like an addiction, one that never truly gets out from under your skin, never fully releases you and one that even in the form of horror never truly becomes sated by the viewer.
We all love a good fright, we want to see where the string maybe that is holding up the glow in the dark skeleton, or the anticipation of the creak on the stairs when there is no one else around; it is the breeding ground of our fertile imagination and one that is exploited quite brilliantly by Mr. Nyman and Mr. Dyson.
What is perhaps unexpected is just how good the troupe of the near gothic nature of the three inter-connected stories are, and especially in the characters presented and the actors who portray them. There will always be a miniscule collection of dissenters to whom will say that the likes of Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse and Alex Lawther don’t deserve the adulation placed upon their names, those that do are arguably, certainly, wrong.
For in Ghost Stories each actor gives the performance of their career, a tough ask when you consider the ability and versatility of Paul Whitehouse for example, but to show fear in front of camera and then to take advantage and manipulate the audience into seeing what they believe to see, is to open up the soul, to let the crowd’s own demons come home to roost and for all three actors, their absolute conviction of their particular tales is one that lets the soul beg for mercy and then applaud when it keeps on going.
Ghost Stories is a dramatic and wonderfully British film, a move from the stage to cinema in which is seamless and extraordinarily, British horror and the touch of the gothic which has been sadly lacking of late; a stroke of unquiet genius.
Ian D. Hall