Popular reviews

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★½

  There will never be too many atmospheric horror movies about breathy English women trembling down the hallways of a haunted Victorian mansion and growing paranoid about whatever it is they hear going bump in the night. So it should be an unalloyed pleasure to watch a new one as musty and well-polished as Christopher Smith’s “The Banishing.”

  All of the proper ingredients are in place, starting with a creepy old house based on the Borley Rectory (which occultist Harry Price designated as “the most haunted house in England”), some wide-eyed new tenants ripe for the scaring, and an oppressive religious streak that’s paved over all manner of dark secrets since an order of monks first occupied the property during the…

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  Review by Ian West ★★ 4

  This had all of the moldy old 70’s vibes I love... meticulous gothic mansion paranoia horror ingredients akin to some of my very favorite films (and books) and made the wise choice of forgoing the usual histrionics that plague modern takes on stories such as these.

  I actually love a lot going on here—it’s a good old fashioned haunted house yarn fit for a paperback with well worn pages and creased outer sleeves. Gorgeous yet musty wallpaper, a child talking to dolls, and ‘am I going insane’ while wondering around the house happenings... it’s the equivalent of an ‘old fashioned’ at a local watering-hole or a fancy pub. The kind of work Mike Flanagan would absolutely crush akin to the total annihilation…

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  Review by Mister Cap ★★½

  "The Banishing" spielt in den 1930igern und die Geschichte beginnt damit, dass ein junger Pfarrer mit seiner Frau Marianne und seiner kleinen Tochter in ein altes britisches Landhaus einzieht. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, dauert es nicht lange, bis sich die Tochter einen imaginären Freund anlacht und die kleine Familie in der Nacht von seltsamen Geräuschen geweckt wird. Das neue Zuhause der Familie scheint eine bewegte Geschichte zu haben und Mutter Marianne muss schon bald den Kampf gegen ihre dunklen Mitbewohner aufnehmen.

  "The Banishing" beginnt mit einem vielversprechenden Prolog und ich hatte die Hoffnung, dass der Film einen anderen Weg einschlagen wird, als die unzähligen mittelmäßigen Spukhaus-Filme, die ich im Laufe der Zeit gesehen habe. Doch diese Hoffnung wurden letztendlich…

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  Review by WraithApe ★★½ 4

  I wouldn't call myself a Christopher Smith super fan but I thought Black Death was interesting and enjoyed Severance and Triangle quite a lot, but with the best will in the world, this foray into haunted house territory is serviceable at best. Perhaps if you hadn't seen many horror films before it might strike more of a chord as it's not badly made by any means, but being an avid consumer of the dark arts, almost all of the story beats here were familiar, bordering on cliché. This might sound a bit harsh, but I feel like some filmmakers secure funding first then scratch around for ideas, while others are driven by a great idea to get a project made…

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  Review by Jose Cañas ★★★

  I imagine this is what CORALINE would look like if the story were told from the POV of her mom.

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  Review by 1313: Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 ★★★ 4

  I enjoyed this probably more than most because it’s a haunted house movie and a very old school one at that! Full of atmosphere and dread with only a handful of jump scares so I applaud it for taking that slower paced approach. Unfortunately it takes it a little too slow at times.

  I’ve been a fan of Christopher Smith ever since the first time I saw Creep although I need to rewatch Black Death because I was in too deep a haze to remember anything when I first watched it. But I like his stuff and even if this is probably his least impressive movie I’ve seen, it’s still full of great creepy imagery and Jessica Brown Findlay is just a very watchable and likable actress so it’s worth a watch!

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  Review by Dan Abel ★★ 2

  "Clean up what you can, Dr. Sutter. Burn the rest."

  During the early years of World War II, Morley Hall, a grand mansion with a troubled past, serves as a rectory for the Catholic church. It's located in an English parish that hasn't had a congregation since the last priest supposedly left for the colonies. Much of the house is closed off as it's in disrepair and costs too much to heat in the winter. Linus is a Vicar within the faith who is allowed to take residence in the house as he attempts to rebuild the congregation. What seems like an ideal assignment for a man of god quickly goes sour when his wife and daughter begin to act…

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  Review by Heather Santrous ★★★

  I broke my watchlist streak so I could watch this movie from a HorrorPack box. This one has a confusing start to it. It jumps right in by showing us a murder/suicide that happens, then it shows a couple dancing, and then gives us a three years later prompt. Three years after the murder/suicide or three years after seeing this couple dancing? Anyway, the story has to do with Marianne who has been asked to move in with her husband, Linus, who is a priest. She has a daughter, Adelaide, but tells other people that her daughter is her sister because she was born out of wedlock. I guess I should mention that this is taking place in the UK…

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  Review by Zay ★★½

  The Banishing is a much less engaging version of The Conjuring imho. The ominous vibes, creepy gothic setting, and the dread inducing atmosphere were great. Unfortunately I never really gave a damn about the family being haunted. There were a few cool scenes involving various ghosts and hooded figures at least. Religious undertones that went over my head. I didn't hate this film as much as many but I didn't love it either.

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  Review by Mariana Simas ★★

  Uma cópia nada memorável da Mansão Hill e Bly só que nada memorável

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  Review by Steph_h

  Family moves into creepy house where a bunch of people previously died ... I’ve already seen poltergeist thanks.. didn’t finish so no grade

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  Review by B E R T ★★

  Very very messy and uneven this one, I couldn’t get into it at all. The story is boring, the pace and editing is truly strange, there are 3 different timelines in the first few minutes which felt so messy, and even the period styling and setting didn’t seem to be cohesive, parts of the film looked so modern and it really took me out of it at times. The actors all actually do good work, Jessica Brown Findlay is terribly wasted in this kind of thing, she deserves better, but overall the material doesn’t give the actors much to work with. I was intrigued when I saw this was by the director of Triangle, but the end result was less than impressive. It actually felt like a tv series that you see on BBC but not one of the good ones.