Polterheist (2018) Review

Playing at the recent Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival where it won the coveted Love Horror Award Polterheist is a pitch perfect blend of crime thriller and comedy horror packed with gang fights and supernatural frights.

Featuring psychics, sickos, shooters and some brilliant and barmy performances the film follows two idiotic small time criminals Tariq (Sid Akbar Ali) and Boxy (Jamie Cymbal), who find themselves on the wrong side of their unhinged gang boss when he demands they find him a bunch of buried cash in 72 hours or feel his wrath.

The issue is the only person who knows the location of the drug money is dead and they killed him. Queue the crazy idea of kidnapping a seemingly genuine medium named Alice Moon (Jo Mousley) in the hope she can contact their deceased lead and find the money fast.

Luckily Alice is the real deal but the hapless anti-heroes get a lot more than they asked for when she is permanently possessed and starts leading the pair on an insane ride through the dark underworld of the neglected Northern city with both amusing and awful consequences.

A very black comedy horror from start to finish director David Gilbank who co-wrote the film with Paul Renhard and actress Gemma Head, wonderfully blends the elements of a brutal British gangster thriller with supernatural and comedic moments to form a highly original film overall.

Made on a relatively low budget the film still manages to feature gang fights, shocking torture and a tour of the underbelly of the North. Shot well Gilbank makes the most of what he has and overall Polterheist sits comfortably alongside much bigger British productions of recent years.

The performances in particular push the film forward with Sid Akbar Ali and Jamie Cymbal making a relatable yet dodgy double act desperately doing all they can to avoid their magnificently menacing crime boss Uday played with paranoid aplomb by Pushpinder Chani.

Best of all is Jo Mousley who starts out as Alice and transforms into Frank the ghost that can guide the bumbling buddies to the stack of green they frantically seek for their survival. Switching from an under confident and innocent psychic into the foul mouthed fearsome Frank, Mousley acts her socks off stealing every scene and Polterheist is all the better for her presence.

Perfect for fans of British gangster movies who are looking for something a bit different from the usual bunch of soap opera actors spouting stupid cockney rhyming slang and trying to look tough holding a shooter. Polterheist gives its audience comedy, horror and crime in one thoroughly entertaining film and who could want for more than that.

Tribal Films presents the early DVD edition available now. On General Release from Early 2019. Available exclusively from: http://www.tribal.film/polterheist/

Movie Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Trailer:

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Alex Humphrey

Alex studied film at the University of Kent and went on to work for Universal Pictures in their Post Room gaining an inside look at the movie industry from the very bottom. Constantly writing reviews in everything from local magazines to Hip Hop sites Alex honed his critical skills even spending a brief period as a restaurant critic. Read more

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