Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

paulclaassen Subtle, yet ever-so-effective, I had gooseflesh for most of the movie! Wow, this was so good. Wonderful acting, especially from lead Rupert Evans. Interesting twist ending!

thelastblogontheleft David (Rupert Evans, somewhat bland) is a film archivist who seems to be having some doubts about his marriage to Alice (Hannah Hoekstra) when he starts to suspect her having an affair with a co-worker. He also stumbles upon some footage at work of a murder that took place not only in his neighborhood, but in the house they share, and he comes to find that the gory deed was done by a husband driven insane by his wife's infidelity. When he confirms his own wife's tryst (in graphic detail) he starts to really go off the deep end… but is it demonic possession or just straight up insanity?This movie does a good job at blurring that line between a more classic horror movie full of jump scares and a psychological thriller where you witness someone's descent into madness. You really aren't sure which is which for a vast majority of the movie, which really adds some interesting complexity to it. It has some of the same appeals of a possession/haunting movie — the idea that there's some malevolent force at work is terrifying. But the thought that maybe it's his own mind at work is almost more scary.It's a fairly low budget film, but there were some truly scary moments done that didn't rely much on special effects — one in particular while David is Skyping with his son, Billy (Calum Heath), when a shadowy figure rose from the corner.I thought it got a little repetitive at times, and the attempted romance from David's co- worker, Claire (the adorable Antonia Campbell-Hughes), felt forced and awkward. The ending was HORRIFIC, to say the least (those images aren't leaving my brain anytime soon), but I didn't think it really matched the rest of the movie, both in style and in graphic goriness. It was like it had this slow burn for 90% and then it ramped up to 100mph REAL QUICK. But the literal last scene I thought had a good amount of creepiness.Overall I think it was a good blend of genres, and definitely a good amount of psychological creepiness.

Argemaluco Unlike the North American "haunted house" movies, the Irish film The Canal adopts a more cerebral and psychological perspective, minimizing the shocks and supernatural events in order to emphasize the oppressive atmosphere, the performances and the intense domestic drama suffered by the ambivalent main character, who might be imagining everything, or really on the right track to an evil presence inhabiting the walls of his house. In that aspect, The Canal reminded me of the also excellent The Babadook, because the screenplay is tense and fascinating even from before the adding of the supernatural elements. Rupert Evans makes a perfect work in the leading role, making us feel his character's desperation, trying to comprehend what's going on while not being able to genuinely share his suspicions in order not to run the risk of being considered crazy. The rest of the cast also brings very good performances, highlighting Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Kelly Byrne. In conclusion, I bring an enthusiastic recommendation to The Canal, mainly to the fans of psychological horror who don't need constant shocks or constant special effects in order to appreciate the pros of a simultaneously passive and shocking tale, until leading to a grotesque, disturbing and definitely satisfactory ending.

valleyjohn The Canal is a genuinely creepy Psychological horror film about a family who moves into a house that has an horrific history and it's past starts to influence their lives in a dramatic way. Not being a great lover of Horror films ( they bore me more than scare me) it's good to come across an independent film like this that actually does the job it's meant to. Sure , it's silly at times and the decision making by the characters is puzzling at best but i found it really watchable and i really liked the ending. The acting from the child , who must be more more than four years old , is really good too.6 out of 10