The Canal

Just to mess with your heads, I watched a movie from 2014.

Just kidding, I watched it because I came across a scene and looked it up. Because it seemed interesting, I watched:

The Canal (2014)

The Canal is an Irish/UK production and is written and directed by Ivan Kavanagh. It stars Rupert Evans as David, a film archivist. His wife Alice is played by Hannah Hoekstra and their babysitter is played by Kelly Byrne, amongst others.

According to the official cover blurb we know that David and Alice movie into an old house. Five years later their son, Billy is in kindergarten and David gets an old film reel from 1902(?). It shows that a man who lived in their house murdered his wife for infidelity and later on also killed his children and their nanny. David soon suspects that Alice is having an affair and horror starts to happen. Oh yeah, it is a low budget horror movie.

Mind you this is all from the cover of the movie so technically it's not a spoiler. I'll try not to spoil anything else, so I'll keep this short and vague.

David sees a ghost and is convinced it is behind all the bad things that happen. He struggles with trying to prove the existence of the ghost while also keeping his sanity intact. How successful he is remains to be decided by the viewer. You see, The Canal is one of those “Could be supernatural – Could be mundane” movies. Ultimately either could be true, but there is a scene or two that put me on the side of the supernatural. Your experience and opinion may be different.

All in all, The Canal is a mixed bag for me. Countless other movies have played with the tropes that makes up the story and often done so better. Not that The Canal is bad, far from it, but it isn't all that original either for the most part. Even the title is a mixed issue. The canal itself is important, but the movie could also be titled The House and it would be equally correct.

Speaking as a long term horror aficionado, half the scares weren't scary. You can see them coming a mile off. Of the remaining half, most other scares are solid and a few were quite good. The actors are all good though. I have no complaints there, not even with Billy's actor, Calum Heath. The story wouldn't work without him and he isn't even annoying as so many kids are in horror.

The cinematography is nice and solid. Not groundbreaking in my opinion, but still good enough. In a way that is the main verdict of The Canal – Good enough.

The biggest problem really, is that everything happens so fast you have very little time to get to know the characters before you need to either feel sympathy or disdain. You don't get that time, but then again that also means that the movie doesn't drag on. Some call it a slow burn but I have to disagree, it's not slow it is paced.

So do I recommend this movie? Usually I say yes if you are a fan of the genre or something like that. This time I have to say yes, if you don't watch a lot of horror. I found it pleasant but bland, but a non-horror aficionado might find it quite scary. So if you want a spooky evening, give it a shot. Just make sure your parents are out of the room by the time you get to the end or it can get a bit embarrassing. Enough said.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!