Rent The Banishing (2020)

Christopher Smith's first dud - The Banishing review by AER

It's a great shame that Christopher Smith, one of the UK's best and most original film directors, has delivered such an incoherent horror/ghost story. There is none of his usual flair, ability to shock, or imagination at play in The Banishing. It's just trundles about, wallowing in cliches, played-out jump scares, and tropes we've got tired of 20 years ago. Also this contains terminally bad child acting too, which wrecks the films authenticity from the start. Sadly, this is boring, slow, and difficult to follow (maybe because it is so repetitive) or it's just badly edited and written. A big shame as Creep, Severance, Black Death, and Triangle are all ace. The director halts one of the best runs by a British film director - please don't banish him though, this could be a blip!

2 out of 10 - dull, unscary, and unoriginal.

Eccentric and unpredictable ... - The Banishing review by NP

From the director responsible for 2004’s wonderful ‘Creep’ Christopher Smith helms this period ghostly mystery horror. While there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about this, the slow-burner story – concerning a family’s deterioration after moving into a haunted house – is told effectively.

There are interesting subplots going on – failures on the part of the otherwise commendable Linus (John Heffernan) pave the way for his descent into instability. Adelaide (Anya McKenna-Bruce), the likeable young daughter is also affected, and we’re never quite sure about poor old Harry (Sean Harris, who was so good as Craig in ‘Creep’), a character rendered (unintentionally?) comical in red wig and music hall garb. Eccentricity and unpredictability within a straightforward plot keep things bubbling nicely.

While it never really achieves greatness, ‘The Banishing’ is a good, spooky way to spend 93 minutes – effective locations, atmospheric cinematography and a tremendous central performance from Jessica Brown Findlay as Marianne ensure a score of 7 out of 10 from me.