ManiakJiggy
This is How Movies Should Be Made
ChampDavSlim
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
review-7
Being an American, I was familiar with American independents, but hadn't experienced low budget features from abroad. I didn't know what to expect. "Urban Ghost Story" was a pleasant surprise. We have nothing on the Brits. While this film occasionally shows it's low budget, that becomes part of the film's charm. The filmmakers are saying that they didn't spend a lot, but they can still bring the audience a lot. The film feels very stark, eerie, and enclosed. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what comes next. Sometimes frightening me about what comes next. And then it gave me a finale that I was certain probably cost more than the budget of the entire movie. I have no idea how they did that.
Jonathan Ley
I caught Urban Ghost Story on t.v. recently and I have to say I was very impressed. I was familiar with the film makers through their authorship of the Guerilla Film Makers Handbook but, to be honest, after reading about their first two features 'The Runner' and 'White Angel' (neither of which I have seen) I wasn't expecting great things from Urban Ghost Story.It turned out however to be a very effective piece of film making which works just as well as social realism as it does as a genre film. The central performance, given by a young non-actor, possesses a raw, natural quality which helps to ground the film's supernatural aspects in a very well observed reality. Stephanie Buttle as the girl's mother is a real find as well, having to work hard against her natural beauty to make her portrayal of a dirt poor single mother convincing. Less impressive are the star turns. Billy Boyd is an ineffectual, stuttering gangster and Jason Connery (a questionable piece of stunt casting) does little with his role as a shady tabloid journalist. The film works hard though to create a believable locale, a Glasgow tower block, and succeeds totally. The film makers have clearly taken the Robert Wise 'Haunting' approach to depicting the ghostly activity and for the most part it works. These scenes could have done with being a little scarier perhaps but a bizarre seance scene does unnerve. Most impressive of all though is the fact that Urban Ghost Story was made for a reported £250,000. For that money they have created an atmospheric film which feels cinematic, complete with a jaw dropping explosion and stunt work. If only more British low budget film making was this adventurous. I am surprised to see that the director has not made a film in the six years since release whereas Merchant Ivory (whose films have gone largely unwatched since Remains of the Day) get money thrown at them. I only wish that more film makers like Ms Joliffe would emerge to shake up the British film industry.
marysia
Billy Boyd is the sexiest Glaswegian thug ever, I want to have his little ned babies. He will beat me and I will drink all the time and the children will steal cars and start smoking when they are seven, we will be the perfect family. I will stick by him even through his years in prison and his numerous bits of stuff on the side. This is my dream.Jason Connery is also not bad looking, even funny German scientist dude was kinda cute. The movie was also quite good, well worth the £4.99 I paid that's for damn sure. Take a couple of characters from Trainspotting and stick them into a mix of Sixth Sense and Poltergeist. Now ramp down your expectations to British ITV movie level and you're there. A lot better than I would have expected.
jenniearcheo
I liked the film, and not just because I happen to be a Billy Boyd fan. I wish the film were available in the US. I was lucky enough to have a friend who could translate out of PAL for me, although my copy ended up extremely quiet and therefore difficult to hear. This wasn't helped by the fact that they're in Glasgow. That particular dialect can be difficult for the US ear to properly interpret.A good example of this is the indie My Name is Joe, also set in Glasgow, which actually required subtitles. No, I'm not kidding.In any event, I liked the concept of the film in general. Particularly the fact that you're left guessing to the end whether the "ghost" is real or a product of Lizzie's sense of guilt over the death of the friend.I do think that Billy's character was the most interesting. He's only in two scenes, but he's got rather a lot of depth for all that. He's not just a loan shark, he's an insecure loan shark's son with a stammer and a runny nose. He seems to have some serious self esteem issues, and being flanked by two large thugs both emphasizes his short stature and implies that he can't convincingly threaten those he's trying to intimidate without them. On the other hand, the (darned sexy) way he menaces Lizzie's mum is indeed convincing. His true cowardly nature is, of course, revealed when Lizzie calls his bluff.
