THE GHOSTS OF BORLEY RECTORY *** UK 2021 Dir: Steven M. Smith. 79 mins
Arriving at the Borley Rectory in 1937, Harry Price (Toby Wynn-Davies) and his assistant Mark (Reece Putinas) are settling into Borley Rectory for a six-month stay to investigate the reports of ghostly activities. Sidney Glanville (Richard Harfst) stops in for a visit and leaves his daughter Helen (Louisa Warren) and son Roger (Lee Hancock) behind to help Harry in his investigations. As their investigations continue with the help of medium Estelle Roberts (Toyah Willcox) and Charles Sutton (Colin Baker) and the testimony of the local Vicar (Julian Sands), they discover that the cause of the hauntings is due to the spectre of an evil nun haunting the premises and must try to stop it.
Overall, there’s quite a lot to like with “The Ghosts of Borley Rectory.” The engaging setup here, with the early stories and recreations of the previous encounters involving the facility, gives this one a fine old-school setup that relies on the chilling setup which offers the chance for some fun to be had with the later encounters found when the group goes investigating. These scenes are kept a bit briefer than some might want but are afforded some fun with the sudden shock appearance of the ghostly nun appearing out of nowhere, and given the creepy make-up for the ghost gives this a fun time for those just wanting a bit of haunted-house spookery. There isn’t much to dislike with this, which comes from its overly talkative setup that spends more time in the group conversations rather than doling out large amounts of supernatural shock scenes since they’re such brief encounters as they are which doesn’t leave a lot of room for a lot of these scenes. As well, there’s some disjointed and rushed-through action in the finale that should’ve had more time to breathe than what it does, and along with the lack of blood and gore here hold this one back even with these positive aspects.
Review by Don Anelli
THE GHOSTS OF BORLEY RECTORY is available on Amazon