Urban Ghost Story

Urban Ghost Story is a 1998 British horror film directed by Geneviève Jolliffe, written by Geneviève Jolliffe and Chris Jones, and starring Jason Connery, Nicola Stapleton, Billy Boyd, Stephanie Buttle, and Heather Ann Foster.^[1] It is set in a high-rise housing estate in Glasgow.

The plot follows 12-year-old Lizzie (Heather Ann Foster) who, after being involved in a road traffic accident and suffering a near-death experience, feels that she is haunted by a malicious spirit that she brought back with her from the afterlife. Although surrounded by people who disbelieve her claims, Lizzie and her mother eventually encounter a journalist who, although initially skeptical, comes to eventually believe the claims and with the assistance of a university parapsychologist the family start to confront with the events.

• Jason Connery as John Fox
• Stephanie Buttle as Kate Fisher
• Heather Ann Foster as Lizzie Fisher
• Nicola Stapleton as Kerrie
• James Cosmo as Minister
• Elizabeth Berrington as Mrs. Ash
• Siri Neal as Social Worker (as Siri O'Neal)
• Andreas Wisniewski as Quinn
• Billy Boyd as Loan Shark
• Kenneth Bryans as Mr. Ash
• Carolyn Bonnyman as Mrs. Miller
• Alan Owen as Alex Fisher
• Stephen MacDonald as Coroner
• Julie Austin as Teacher
• Nicola Greene as WPC Tomkins

Following production of their previous film, White Angel, Geneviève Jolliffe and Chris Jones researched poltergeist activity including the Enfield poltergeist occurrences.^[2] Filming took place at Ealing Studios with location shots done in Glasgow.^[3] James Cosmo, Nicola Stapleton, Andreas Wisniewski, and Elizabeth Berrington were cast in the film; it also makes a film debut for Billy Boyd. The music was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams.

The film was nominated for two British Independent Film Awards, for the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director and Best British Independent Film. It premiered at The Edinburgh Film Festival, won two Fantafestival awards, for Best Actress and Best Film, Best Film at WorldFest Houston Film Festival and was selected to play at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and The Busan International Film Festival. Genevieve was selected as one of the Ten to Watch series, Critics Choice: Europe Now by Variety.

Michael Thomson from BBC Film Review gave a mixed review to the film: "Despite creating credible scares, a sense of poor folk being pounded by their circumstances, and an environment of fully-detailed grubbiness, the director relies on too much editing within scenes, so the film often moves too quickly from one face to another instead of moving fluently with unbroken shots. In this way, we are unhooked from a film which should really have grabbed and gripped".^[4]

Total Film described the film as "Poltergeist, Ken Loach-style".^[5] Variety described the film as "a clever, often potent blend of British kitchen-sink drama with fantasy elements that gains added resonance by being set in gruff, rugged Glasgow".^[6]

Fangoria described it as "one of the most authentically rendered '90s horror films about the poor, lower-class world which its cast of central characters inhabit. Comparisons to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh might seem hyperbolic, but Joliffe and Urban Ghost Story ultimately don't need to be tethered to big name fancy pants male filmmakers to justify how good it is; this movie stands on its own, and is an extraordinary snapshot of how poverty, shame, guilt and isolation work together, all through the enduring supernatural metaphor of the ghost".^[7]

The Guardian described the film as "a ghost story told with conviction, some creepy atmospherics in the desolate tower block, and an interesting riff on the poltergeist as a manifestation of poverty and alienation".^[8]

• Urban Ghost Story at IMDb
• Urban Ghost Story at AllMovie
• Urban Ghost Story at Rotten Tomatoes
• Urban Ghost Story at BBC
• Urban Ghost Story at Time Out
• Wild Women With Steak Knives: Urban Ghost Story at Fangoria
• Urban Ghost Story at Variety
• Urban Ghost Story at Zombievamp
• Urban Ghost Story at Kalafudra's Stuff