Every country has their own history of horror films, from the stark weirdness of German Expressionism to Italy’s frenetic and hyper-violent gialli and zombie flicks to Japan’s moody and disturbing spook stories. When it comes to the UK, though, after the Gothic Horror movement and subsequent sequels, what they do better than almost anyone else are the modern-day, atmospheric ghost stories. The ghost story as a literary device was all but invented in Britain, by writers like Charles Dickens and M.R. James.
That’s why the teaser for a new British film, aptly titled Ghost Stories, has us super stoked.
Written and directed by Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen) and Andy Nyman (a million things), Ghost Stories — from their hit stage play — looks to be a throwback to the portmanteau style of scary movie mostly seen in the ’60s and ’70s (such as Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors). Nyman plays a professor who teaches that nothing supernatural ever happens, sought out but a mysterious man to look into three cases of hauntings, each of which gets depicted on screen for maximum creepiness. Martin Freeman stars as someone who seems at first to just be an investigator but might end up being something altogether more nefarious. (Taking bets now.)
Ghost Stories has gotten rave reviews in the UK, and opens wide there on April 13 (sometime this year here the U.S.) To me, it has the vibe of the 2008 television movie Crooked House, written by and starring Dyson’s League of Gentlemen cohort, and Sherlock co-creator, Mark Gatiss, and also starred Nyman in one segment. So, really, if anybody’s going to make a super good ghost movie, it’s these people. We can’t wait to be scared to go to bed!
Images: Lionsgate UK
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He is the writer of 200 reviews of weird or obscure films in Schlock & Awe. Follow him on Twitter!
For more spooky ghost stuff, click below!
- Our look at Britain’s annual ghost stories made for TV in the ’70s!
- Why Kill, Baby, Kill! is the best ghost kid movie ever made!
- A look at the brilliant Tales from the Crypt film!
