An Taibhse – The Ghost (2024) Review

In 1852, Éamon Finegan (Tom Kerrisk) and his daughter Máire (Livvy Hill) take on the roles of caretakers at a large, isolated mansion during the winter months. The initial tranquillity of what seems to be a rare opportunity is shattered when a supernatural force awakens, causing Tom to sustain a gruesome injury and threatening Máire both psychologically and physically each evening as she attempts to sleep. As the relationship between Máire and her incapacitated father becomes increasingly strained, will either of them ultimately escape the influence of the malevolent spirit which is stalking them?

An Taibhse is the first Irish language horror film ever made and there’s an otherworldly flavour given to the piece by the engaging diction of the main characters. The sprawling, impressive but also ramshackle and dimly lit setting boosts the atmosphere, as does canny sound design and framing of shots that hint at something lurking just beyond the confines of the screen. In terms of bygone shocks, this would make for an intriguing double bill with Fright, which also finds itself in the Pigeon Shrine FrightFest London line-up.

However, where Fright regulates its creepiness to the spooky but restrained standards of monochrome, 1950s British flicks, An Taibhse blasts forth in bloody colour, grounding itself in the all too real, historical dread of the famine era and taking its cinematic influences from the celluloid haunted houses of the 1970s and 1980s. The gradual, mental degradation of a loving father echoes The Shining, as does a final act variation on Kubrick’s most notorious and violent jump scare, but writer/director John Farrelly has more than enough tricks of his own when it comes to generating tension and sustaining the interest, even though much of it is played as a two-hander between Kerrisk and Hill.

Kerrisk puts in a noteworthy performance as Éamon, the initially strict but clearly doting dad who becomes more detached and deranged as the piece progresses. Hill is extraordinary as the young girl enduring all manner of personal torture as she steadily comes to the realisation that she may very well be the one who has to find a way to break the spell the mansion weaves around its inhabitants. Conveying a sense of growing fear without ever resorting to histrionics, she is certainly a performer to watch out for.

The last twenty minutes see the terrors manifest themselves in ever more disturbing ways, culminating in a sequence which is as inevitable as it is utterly shocking. This is a movie which isn’t afraid to go to some extremely dark places and there was a point when I was genuinely considering whether or not I should look away. That’s not to say the scene in question isn’t handled with the utmost care by Farrelly but it still possessed the power to unnerve a hardened horror hound such as myself.

The term “slow burn” may be applied to An Taibhse and I understand when films are labelled in such a way, but the gradual reveals and increasing dread are integral to the deliberate, finely tuned pacing of the story. I don’t believe many people will complain of too few incidents as they’re more than likely going to be oscillating between sinking further and further into their seats or sitting bolt upright as a result of a sudden, cacophonous jolt. The “quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG” approach isn’t over utilised but it’s the skilful way those moments are deployed which makes them feel a little fresher than usual.

An Taibhse may be generating buzz as the pioneer of genre cinema in a language we haven’t heard previously, but to focus purely on that would be to take away the fact that it’s a bloody good ghost story with a hard to shake, emotionally bludgeoning last stanza. John Farrelly has set a notable benchmark for future Irish language horror movies and, if those hopefully forthcoming titles are of equal quality, more please.

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