Borley Rectory is a 2017 British horror film written and directed by Ashley Thorpe (shorts: The Hairy Hands; The Screaming Skull; Scayrecrow).
The movie stars Reece Shearsmith, Jonathan Rigby and Nicholas Vince. The narrator is Julian Sands.
The legends attached to the rectory at Borley, and famed paranormal investigator Harry Price’s subsequent investigations of them caught the public imagination during the late 1920s, and would later provide inspiration for such books as Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Richard Matheson’s The Legend of Hell House.
This film examines the legends, the controversial investigations and uncovers a ghost story that reveals more about what might have been missing from Borley than what might have been possessing it…
Borley Rectory had its world premiere at Grimmfest in Manchester, Northern England, on 8 October 2017. They described the film thus:
Ashley Thorpe’s “unique film combines traditional filmmaking technique with an elaborate mix of rotoscoping, digital animation and compositing, using a mixture of live action, stills, paintings, and model work, to offer an immersive, atmospheric, and elegantly retro-styled exploration of the Most Haunted House in Britain.” Borley Rectory also features a score by former Siouxsie and the Banshees’ bassist Steve Severin.
Reviews:
“Those tired of the same old same old from the lower-budgeted end of British horror will find much here to restore the faith. Richly textured, with an extraordinary attention to detail, it’s the kind of film that haunts the memory long after the end credits have rolled in much the same way as the ghosts stalked the real-life Rectory.” The EOFFTV Review
“Perhaps the most salient point which Borley Rectory successfully communicates, is that a haunting seems to be very much like a relationship; people, with all of their flaws and ulterior motives, imprint upon the phenomena they report; in some cases, their flaws make the phenomena altogether.” Warped Perspective
“Borley Rectory is a gorgeous looking documentary that should prove intriguing to fans of classic horror movies, viewers interested in the supernatural, and anyone in the mood for a one-of-a-kind documentary.” When It Was Cool
Cast and characters:
Jonathan Rigby … Harry Price – author of American Gothic and Euro Gothic
Reece Shearsmith … V.C Wall
Annabel Bates … Marianne Foyster
Claire Louise Amias … Mabel Smith
Julian Sands … Narrator
Nicholas Vince … Rev. Smith
Virge Gilchrist … Helen Glanville
Sara Dee … Ethel Bull
Stephanie Walls … Mabel Bull
Richard Strange … Rev. Bull
Jason Collins … Roger Glanville
Steve Furst … Rev. Foyster
James Cotter … Investigator
Ed Berry … The Lodger
Sabrina Dickens … The Phantom Nun
Trailer:
