WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT

Back in the 1970’s, hidden in West Yorkshire was a malevolent unseen force that preyed on 13 year old girls..Before you ask, NO it had nothing to do Jimmy Savile! The Black Monk of Pontefract (aka The Pontefract Poltergeist) is alleged to have haunted the Pritchard family of 30 East Drive Pontefract and has boldly been dubbed "most violent poltergeist on European history."

Having a personal connection to the phenomenon, (his auntie Jean regularly visited the house and claimed to have witnessed unexplainable occurrences) director Pat Holden is at the helm for a movie version of events. The story joins the Maynard’s (changed from Pritchard) Len (Steven Waddinton), his wife Jenny (Kate Ashfield) along with their daughter Sally (Tasher Conner) as they move into the aforementioned council subsidised residence. Of course it doesn’t take long for some unexplainable goings on to occur. Wobbling lampshades soon transgress to grandfather clocks hurtling down stairs and eerie apparitions.

Being down to Earth folk, any suggestions of spirits and ghosts are scoffed at, with poor Sally taking the brunt of the blame for the bizarre episodes. It’s this situation that gives the movie its most grounding element. The reluctance to accept there are strange forces at work threatens to tear the family apart and as accusations and mistrust swell within the home.

The suspicion and all out blame is placed firmly with their teenage daughter and is dismissed as merely adolescent rebellion due to her refusal to embrace their new abode. But when Len has a close encounter of sorts of his own with the entity, the family start to wonder whether their home is in the clutches of a supernatural power. When not taking solace at the local Working Men’s club with a pint of bitter or two, Len decides to try and exploit the situation by calling the national press in. Local intrigue s is milked further when, much to his wife’s disgust, he invites strangers into the family home for a personal tour. The £1 cash on the door fee helps boost the family coffers for Jenny’s much desired green, I mean ‘avocado’ colour kitchen after all! The relationship of the spirit with Sally develops fascinatingly with the young girl almost bonding with the spectral lodger. When a particularly upsetting run in with her mum leads to Sally vengefully requesting the unseen force "Do something to her.." the results, courtesy of an irate swarm of bees, add guilt to the melting pot of teenage emotions. It culminates in the family seeking professional help from the local psychic and a rather unwilling priest....

When the movie was released back in September last year, we at SGM (among others) were invited to visit the house in question and watch the movie. Unfortunately none of the gang could oblige but I was very intrigued as to how the picture would play out. My anticipation was certainly justified when watching the first hour of the 80 minute runtime.

The attention to detail in the production was very impressive. The viewer is effortlessly immersed in the early 1970’s as the movies look captured the era brilliantly. From the hairstyles and the beige domestic colour schemes to the distinct lack of parked cars and that little white dot that used to appear in the centre of a television when switched off, the aesthetic was superbly authentic. I particularly loved the use of vintage toys. Remember BUCKAROO? I know it’s still around but this one was the genuine vintage model used when depicting the beginnings of the supernatural incidents.

Holden’s direction is prompt and moves the eerie narrative along quickly while distinctly developing the characters. Some solid performances from the cast were topped off by Tasher Conner’s genuinely stirring portrayal of the young Sally. Her meld of emotions, isolation and confusion injected a shot of intelligence into the movie while making it impossible not to sympathise with her growing pains, made even more convoluted due to the poltergeist.

Unfortunately it couldn’t keep this up till the final reel. I felt the climax was rushed and lacklustre at best. A priest coerced into doing a DIY exorcism via a bit of blackmail didn’t do the first half of the movie justice and just seemed a little too mundane to be considered a worthy climax. There was a twist beyond this but again it just seemed hastily put together and was not consistent with the excellent first half.

Final word on the ‘exorcism’ conclusion; if it’s not bad enough that nearly EVERY ‘possession movie’ uses this escape technique, when doing a bit of rudimentary research into the alleged real version of events I learned while it’s true a man of the cloth was consulted, it appeared his involvement positively incited the spirit into far more violent apparitions, so much so the family decided against any religious meddling. This concept is sadly completely ignored in the movie version and after a promising start the movie for me had a rather too abrupt and unsatisfactorily conclusion.

The disc itself has a fine picture and the dreary setting is accurately illustrated. The DVD has two sound options, of 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround, which both work well in adding some aural menace to the movie.

There is an "EXTRAS" section but again this left me a little disappointed. A 10 minute Behind the Scenes chapter was adequate enough, but the 9 minute Deleted Scenes section could have possibly benefitted from a little input via the filmmakers as to why these sequences were shorn off the already meagre 80 minute run time.

A "Short Documentary at the House" (4 mins) was basically an advert for the BING website from what I could gather while the "Two Man Premier" (5 mins) featured the winners of a LOVEFILM sponsored completion whereby two fans watched a screening of the movie at 30 East Drive. They loved the film but no sign of any poltergeists!

The Bonus Material is completed by a 10 minute interview and tour with Lisa Manning of Holbrook, Coventry who claims that her house also has a ghostly intruder. The closest we came to experiencing the ghost was Lisa claiming that it "suddenly has gotten REALLY cold in here.." Guess we will have to take your word for it love eh? While these snippets would have served to promote the movie upon its release, it hardly was the sort of stuff to satiate horror movie aficionados for background info on the actual movie itself.

All in all, an intriguing ‘true story’ was portrayed very realistically in the first hour but ultimately fell a little flat at the end. As for the extras, they didn’t provide that wonderful commodity that nearly all poltergeist folklore lack – PROOF!

Review by Marc Lissenburg