The Haunting of #24 (2007)
After breaking-up with his girlfriend Veronica, the unemployed John Hare rents a cheap room in an old boarding house owned by the nice Martin Stone and the landlord tells him that the house is crowded by discreet persons. John does not see any other tenant but a bizarre old woman in the house and during the nights, he sees weird things on his television and hears violent knocks on his door. When John calls Veronica, she notes that he is near a breakdown after many sleepless nights and decides to stay with him. However, Veronica vanishes during the night, leading John to an ultimate decision.
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Undescribable Perfection
Sadly Over-hyped
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
Within moments I thought I'd got this film all worked out, I braced myself for the worst and accepted my fate. Thing is I was actually off base.Lie Still otherwise known as The Haunting Of 24 is an English horror that tells the story of a man who after breaking up with his girlfriend proceeds to move into a bedsit within a large building full of people who just want to be left alone.He quickly begins to see horrifying visions and questions his sanity, is he losing his mind or is some malevolent force at work?Well despite being British (I rarely enjoy British films) and despite being rather unoriginal this isn't all that bad.Considering the subject matter it's passable. We see our hero falling apart, trying to get to the bottom of the mystery and fight off the advances of his horny pensioner neighbour.Not great, but a harmless time killer.The Good:Fairly interestingThe Bad:Messy in placesNo real originalityThings I Learnt From This Movie:I learnt nothing, I just took my brain out relaxed and got on with the highly generic ride
New tenant to a decidedly run-down apartment, John Hare (Stuart Laing of Eastender & Holby City fame) soon realizes that he's not very welcome in the place that may indeed by haunted in this slow-moving low-budget British horror film.Now when I saw slow, I don't mean it's a slow-burner as that would imply that it was lot in the first place. No this film is slow in a clunky, meandering, go nowhere kind of way. Having seen the lamentable "Summers Moon", I can tell you that the writer does get better in his sophomore film as opposed to this one, if only marginally so. This one isn't interesting in the least and the acting is bad as well.
This film basically does to boarding houses what the Shining did to the hotel.Without really much to spoil I was pretty satisfied about this film. It wasn't overly gory or profanity (although it could have had less, but these English films). It was just creepy and scary. I really enjoyed the part with the little girl playing ball.The story is basically just a guy renting a cheap room, but strange spooky things keep happening that soon drive him insane. The only 2 people there are a crazy old estranged lady and a nice humble old land lord.What this film really reminded me of, was this TV series that had an episode called Dreams in the Witches House. It seemed exactly like that. If you've seen that and liked it, you'll want to see this.Only problem with this film is that, it kind of asks a bit of questions at the end (and the profanity IMO was just a bit heavy).One other thing though, there's a clip after the END CREDITS
Well here's a movie that probably will be long forgotten before it properly hits the lowest shelves of second-class rental stores "Lie Still", the debut film of Sean Hogan, simply hasn't got anything to offer that makes it memorable. Gorehounds will drop out instantly, as the film doesn't feature the slightest amount of action or excitement. Partly because there wasn't enough budget for special effects but mainly because Hogan clearly intended to bring an old-fashioned atmospheric and story-driven ghost story. Fine by me! I encourage the revival of intelligent suspense-horror, but the problem here is that the script of "Lie Still" is as superficial and basic as can be. After the painful break-up with his girlfriend, unemployed and soft drugs addicted John Hare moves into a cheap room of an ancient house. He hopes to take a fresh start, but the house soon turns out to be a haunted place where the restless spirits of previous residents still dwell around. A premise like this immediately reminds you of popular films like "The Others" or "The Devil's Backbone" and thus you begin to prepare yourself for a supernatural and totally unexpected twist in the end. The problem with "Lie Still" is that this particular twist never comes! Okay so there are ghosts in the house and all this relates to the vicious history of the house's first owner who's buried in the backyard. That's it? Where's the climax? This movie ends exactly like it began: slow, uninteresting and anonymous. The only positive elements I can possibly mention are a handful of atmospheric sequences and only ONE ingenious finding (the people inside the television set). I picked up somewhere that the screenplay was written in only a couple of weeks (I believe that), but that it took another two years before the required budget was raised. What budget? I bet most of the money was spent on coffee & medication in order to keep cast and crew members awake during filming. The acting performances are fairly satisfying, though, and Hogan's inexperienced approach of the genre occasionally does look charming.