FinalGuyHorror Britain has a great tradition of ghost stories. Our rainy isle seems to be the inspiration for countless supernatural shenanigans, and our history of great spooky storytellers, both in literature and on the silver screen, is as long as it is distinguished. Now looking to join those hallowed halls is Heretic, a psychological ghost tale from esteemed indie film label 101 films and writer/director Peter Handford.Father James Pallister (Andrew Squires) is a catholic priest haunted by his own failure to protect Claire (Jen Nelson), a young, vulnerable girl who committed suicide shortly after seeking his help. With his faith shaken and alcohol as his only crutch James is forced to return to his old parish when the girl's stepfather dies in similarly self inflicted circumstances. But when James becomes trapped in the derelict house where the girl took her life he starts to see visions and ghosts of mistakes past. With both Claire and her stepfather seemingly seeking revenge for their fates James must try and escape the old mansion before their final resting place becomes his own.With all of the classic ghost story elements in place (small sleepy village, eerie house and a tragic death), Heretic is a quintessential tale of guilt, remorse and revenge from beyond the grave. While it sticks to the conventions of this genre for the most part there is enough variety to avoid the whole film feeling stale, with the religious themes in particular likely to inspire introspective and debate once the lights have come back on. Peter Handford should be commended for shunning modern horror's obsession with the jump scare for a slow burning tension that subtly draws the viewer in, with the on screen action playing out like an adaptation of an M.R. James or Susan Hill story before dovetailing into a more visceral, psychological thriller in the final act.While the majority of the cast are solid Andrew Squires deserves a special mention for his accurate and engaging portrayal of the inner turmoil of a man struggling with both a crisis of faith and his own guilt over the death of his young charge. For the majority of the file James is a quiet and subdued character but Squires still manages to bring a great deal to the role, leaving you with the impression that the young priest was struggling with his faith long before Claire decided to kill herself. The cinematography is good throughout and we are never quite sure which of the visions are actually happening and which are simply in the young priest's head, and both the score and the editing are top notch. The story proceeds at a good pace and does an excellent job of filling in more details as things progress, drip feeding just enough information to keep the audience interested while keeping enough back to add a sting in the tail.Unfortunately, by the time the twist does come, things have become a little convoluted. A few strange coincidences and narrative devices are employed to drive the film onto its conclusion, and while Heretic is certainly not the first horror to stumble in the final third (and is by no means the worst offender) it's a shame that such a well crafted and atmospheric story is let down by a slightly heavy handed finale. Some may also find the opening thirty minutes a little slow if used to faster paced horror fare.Straddling the line between psychological horror and old fashioned ghost story, Heretic is a tragic tale of repressed anger and lost hate that will stick with you long after the credits roll. Taking the viewer through a journey through faith, loss, revenge and the limits of conscience this will hopefully be remembered as a great modern day ghost tales.

bowmanblue Normally, I try to find something positive to say about a film. Plus, I like to give 'home-grown' (British) films a chance. They don't often have the budgets or stars that their Hollywood counterparts often do. But, if the quality of a film was based on its budget, then Michael Bay would have won every Oscar ever.Unfortunately, 'Heretic' is basically only slightly better than your average student film. It was made for a mere (in film terms) £30,000 and it shows.I watch a lot of horror films and I don't expect Oscar-worthy performances, but the acting here is terrible. No, it's worse than terrible. It really is some of the worst performances ever committed to film. It's like no one here is an actor and everyone is just a friend who offered to 'help out' by 'starring' in this low budget flick.Basically, if it was simply not scary that would be one thing. However, seeing as it's not scary AND pathetically acted then you really want to steer well clear of this abomination. There really isn't anything good to say about it. If you read any 'Five star' reviews then I'll put money on them being written by friends of the film-makers.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

sjp041981 As a low budget horror film I thought this was well shot and had a good plot. The suspense kept me interested and I thought some of the effects were good. I'm not sure why people are saying this is the worst horror film ever seen because Jeepers Creepers is the worst horror I've seen, and that had a Hollywood budget.Some of the acting was a little suspect but the script was well put together and it was well directed.This film reminded me of The Shining and I will be recommending it to my friends who are also horror fans.I look forward to the next one from Mod Scientist.

thebertster It's really necessary to watch Heretic on two different levels to fully appreciate what these first-time film-makers have achieved.In general, Heretic sits just above average in terms of movies of this genre. The story itself is generally well-conceived and nicely paced. It sits firmly in the classic supernatural thriller camp - the relatively small amount of blood and gore is artistically delivered rather than gratuitous, the shocks are infrequent but well-placed and the overall atmosphere is subtly unsettling rather than terrifying, with an original score that complements the visuals throughout.There are some lovely bits of film making here; there is some wonderful cinematography and some powerful scenes and performances, particularly from Squires and Tait.There are some rough edges too; visually, some scenes are too dark resulting in some distracting digital artifacts in the DVD version of the film. There are also a few places where the dialogue feels a little unnatural and there are times where the plot seems to take a slightly forced turn.If that were the end of the matter, Heretic would pass unnoticed as a relatively unremarkable indie-horror amongst many others...but there is another story here which is played out in the DVD audio commentary by the director Peter Handford and producer Bethany Clift.Rather than the usual scene-by-scene self-congratulatory schmaltz we normally get in a DVD commentary, Heretic's alternative audio track is a mini-documentary, compelling in its own right, describing the journey of this movie from the original idea to its cinema, DVD and online release, through set backs, near disasters, technical problems and logistical nightmares.Despite all this, thanks to a lot of mucking in by friends and family, a little luck and a lot of very hard work, the entire movie was produced within its original budget of less than £30,000 from start to finish. The commentary explains the reason for some of the rough edges noted above and serves as a fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations of film-making from the point of view of two complete newcomers to the process.Watch Heretic and enjoy it. Then watch it again with the audio commentary and marvel at what the director, cast and crew have achieved. If they get the proper funding they deserve off the back of this first effort, Handford and Clift's next film is surely going to be something special.