British horrors are hit and miss with me, some are excessively uneasy to watch ('Eden Lake') whilst others are suitably atmospheric ('The Descent'). So when I saw the trailer to Ghost Stories, I immediately tempered expectations but what I saw increasingly intrigued me. The end result...was not what I predicted. A professor who takes pride at debunking psychic frauds, is given a task by his role model. He must investigate three unexplainable cases that challenge the existence of supernatural entities. An intriguing premise that will appeal to many, its execution however may not. Structuring its narrative through three short stories, each with a paranormal theme, whilst intertwining the cases into a coherent investigation. Combining real life conditions, such as stress, depression and loneliness, with a ghostly undertone certainly translates "the brain sees what it wants you to see" theme very well. The three cases themselves were convincingly atmospheric as they injected much needed chills and thrills to this horror flick. The main story itself, although basic, was ambiguously surreal and will leave you guessing right up to the final reveal. The acting was splendid from the whole cast, particularly Whitehouse and Lawther, hosting an array of British accents. Was it scary? No. Every single scare was accompanied with a piercing loud noise to ensure that you jump. That's not frightening, that's damn irritating! The makeup effects of the poltergeists were lacklustre. The second case should've been much scarier, but instead was rather hilarious. "Staaay!"...yeah, I wished you did. Could've enhanced the horror some more. Then we get to the ending, which is possibly one of the surrealist safest endings I've ever seen. The breadcrumbs throughout the film were intelligently positioned, but I feel it followed the same premise as an all too famous 1995 film (I won't say the title, it'll spoil it). The film is intelligently creepy, it's just not scary and it's conclusion didn't deliver any impact for me.

Ghost Stories is kinda of a horror anthology, but not really. It's a British horror anyway starring Martin Freeman and oddly Paul Whitehouse.

It tells the story of a skeptic, a professional debunker and I think they're always fantastic protagonists because I can entirely relate to their plight and mission. He's tasked with investigating three supernatural incidents and off he goes to find the truth.

Truth be told I was really enjoying it, it was so well handled. Genuinely tense, succeeds in being scary without relying on jump scares and the cast are fantastic. I was gripped, I was enthralled, I was hooked.

Martin Freeman is on form and Paul Whitehouse in such a role though weird actually showed he may be a more credible actor than originally believed. He broke free of the comedy characters he's known for a did a great job.

So what went wrong? Sadly for me it's one of those films killed by the ending, it just didn't work for me. I get it, I fully understand everything they were going for but personally that flat lined the entire film.

Such potential, so well done, but that ending just bundled the thing into a coffin and sent it to a premature grave. Such a shame.

The Good:

The majority is fantastic on every front

Lot of potential

The Bad:

Movie killing ending

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Phone signal is something that you just swipe out of the air

02 product placement? Worst ever

Professors are known for pulling onions out of their bottoms

Clever, but not overly clever. Not so clever that you want to punch the writer(s) in the face. I was very surprised and satisfied with the ending of the film, and thoroughly enjoyed the path the storytellers took the viewers on to reach the conclusion. I watched it multiple times after renting in order to locate the delicious little hints that pointed to what was actually going on in the film. My first viewing was obviously the most satisfying: sitting alone in my lil' house in the woods, late at night, with all the lights off. The silence and darkness of my surroundings definitely added to the overall experience. I also really enjoyed the subsequent viewings, which helped me understand reasons behind certain shots, bits of dialogue, etc. And it was still scary the second and third times around!

I thought each paranormal case presented in the film was uniquely frightening. The filmmakers made effective use out of many different types of scares. It isn't overly gory, which I appreciate because I am not really into blood and guts. There was a lot of suspense and eerie sounds, which I love. And some spooky critters, which I also love. The lighting (or darkness, I guess) in the first scenario was really unsettling. And then...the soul horror. Lawd have mercy.

Thought Martin Freeman stole the show, but then he usually does. Really enjoyed the 3 or so minutes with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as the priest. His dialogue was beautifully written and performed. Alex Lawther is always creepy. He could do a sweet-as-sugar romcom with Emma Watson and he would still freak me out.

Love the cover art/film poster/whatever you call it as well.

All in all, I found it really enjoyable. Classically spooky with modern twists. Good times.