Amateur Hour

This is a weird one. Clearly a low, low budget production it felt like a drama student's final year film. The plot has nothing to do with the real events and characters at Borley Rectory but at times felt like a remake of Lady Chatterley's Lover as the only scenes that seemed well done were the sex scenes where the actors excelled. Maybe it would have been better for them to make that as a film as they seemed to be more into it.

So what's wrong? Firstly, be warned this film moves at snails pace and could have done with tighter delivery & editing. Those awkward silences where inexperienced actors wait for each other between lines. I don't know who directed it but they could also do with learning about ensemble acting due to the overall unevenness of the piece.(there are only 4 actors in the whole film) I thought Lee Bane, the actor playing Frank Pearless was quite good as he at least tries to set the tone of the period piece (1935), but this can appear 'hammy' when your co-stars are playing it like a contemporary piece. The actress playing Marianne Foyster would have been more suited to an episode of EastEnders or The Bill and the actor playing the Rev. Lionel Foyster was just flat and non-descript. Furthermore, it's all let down by low production values where some of the costumes don't seem very fitting with the times. The lead actress is attired in a series of flashy evening dresses more suited to a cocktail party (or the office Christmas party) than the daywear of a rector's wife. The so called ghosts look like they've been kitted out with plastic Halloween masks from Poundland. All these little things keep in firmly entrenched in amateur hour which is a shame because the screenplay wasn't as awful as expected. 4/10