Lack of a bigger budget to make Poltergeist of Borley Forest hurts the production value and turns a good idea into a ho hum recycle of other ghostly films. Now on DVD, the movie has some creative value, but not enough to make it a hit. Suffering from lack of good photography, lighting and sound efficiency, the movie just doesn’t frighten enough to deliver the impact from the storyline. If you are a horror fan and just have to see every scary flick that comes down the pike, then gather a few friends and rent this DVD.
The film centers on Paige Pritchard (Marina Petrano) a teen who attends a party in the woods with some classmates and a few college kids. Her friend Ava (Weston Adwell) was supposed to meet her there, but doesn’t show so she looks to Kirby (Ryan Carter) and Danielle (Charish Harvey) to take her home. She walks off into the woods looking for the two and Page notices a rope hanging from a tree. She pulls on the rope and we see a quick take of a ghost shadow. Just then Kirby and Danielle call out to her. The three leave the woods stopping once due to a log in the road. At that point Paige sees a person in the side mirror standing the woods.
So begins the tale of ghosts and murder when a poltergeist follows Page home. Director Stephen McKendree moves his film along at a slow pace introducing his characters and giving the viewer a chance to settle in on impending doom. He uses hand held cameras, home surveillance cams and stationary cinematography to get his shots. His camera set-ups are good and the use of surveillance works nicely. However, the lighting in the forest nighttime is really too dim to make it scary and get a view of the initial evil ghostly blotch and later the killer in the mirror. Thank goodness for DVD as pausing at those shots will help. Also there are several takes that have a double image due to poor lighting coupled with camera angle. Even in the better lighted scenes there are shadows, shadows and more shadows.
McKendree’s actors and crew are not seasoned enough and needed to be coached more by the director. An acting teacher on set could have helped and probably would have not cost much to have her show off her skills with the cast. They must have been a problem with the sound equipment during a lot of exchange of dialogue as conversations become very amateurish, metallic, cavernous and harsh sounding at times. I guess this could not be corrected in editing. More than one audio check and take could have prevented it unless they were doomed with an amateur sound guy.
This is however, a good film for budding filmmakers to see what one can get for a limited budget. The money for the production was probably provided by Kickstarter, relatives, friends and out of pocket. Unfortunately the project was a might too large for what they collected as you can see a lot of corners were cut with rushed takes and not taking a safety with each scene. Editing must have been a nightmare, something that the viewer won’t have after watching the non-frightening film.
The upside includes a nice performance by Christopher Ingle as Tommy Prichard the brother of Page. He hit all his lines on cue, showed realistic facial expressions and did a good job of supporting lead actress Marina Petrano. As for Marina you can see she worked her behind off for the production, but having the lead she’s the one most dependent on the success of the film. Better guidance, fewer long close-ups, and having to deal with a lot of amateurs spoiled a good attempt.
Poltergeist of Borley Forest has not been rated by the MPAA but does contain violence, language, teen drinking and drug use.
BONUS EXTRAS:
There are a few bonus extras that can also be good for upcoming movie makers.
“The Manifestation of Poltergeist: Behind the Scenes” the feature is 21 minutes long and takes a look at the beginning of Liberty Films and the founders. Cast and crew talk about the production of the film including locations and their budget.
“Deleted Scenes” the scenes cut from the original film would only have made the film longer that it should have been and added no real value.
“Outtakes from Borley Forest” Just a bunch of silly stuff that the cast and crew will like to see in this DVD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A decent attempt on a small budget, but the story’s not scary. (D+)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Marina Petrano, Christopher Ingle, Rhea Rossiter, Weston Adwell, Nicholas Barrera, Jason Beck, Rebecca Barrow
Director: Stephen McKendree
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Running Time: 1 hr. 42 min
Video Release Date: Jun 2nd, 2015
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 16×9, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: CC
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
