13 Gantry Row
Starring...Rebecca Gibney, John Adam
13 Gantry Row, wow just the picture and the name alone make you want to wish it was never made but...don't let it fool you. I rented this film because when I read what it was about it sounded alot like the old computer Game, PHANTASMAGORIA, (I loved that game) This british film wasn't half bad, it was a surprise to me that I actually enjoyed watching it. To the story,
Peter and Julie, happily married couple purchases a large house (that looks like a twister hit it) which they plan to renovate/rebuild and whatnot.. As they begin their restoration they discover that beneath the layers of wallpaper and paint, underneath there living room wall are these iron plates covering the whole wall. When they remove the iron plates, a stain appears on the wall. As the stain grows it begins to resemble the shadow of a man climbing from beneath the house. Each time they paint over it, it returns. A man murdered someone and was never caught, it happened a century ago. It seems it's spirit is alive and well, and begins to take Peter's sanity over. Now the reason he is going nutso, get this, he finds a old rusty razor behind the iron plates, looks like a antique. Now you would always try out some razor you find in a run down house sealed up behind iron plates in a wall. Oh yeah, let's forget about all those dieses you can get, we're British, we can't get them! Well, just like in Phantasmagoria, the husband begins to be taken over by the evil spirit, doing things he would never do, acting irratically, hell, the wife even complains in the sack! It goes on like this through out the film untill the big ending of which I shall not reveal on this site.
Even though the picture quality is a step up from that of a home camcorder, and that there accents are all British (it drives you bloody mad!) this film will hold your interest till the very end. Although I loved Phantasmagoria 10times more, this is the closet thing to it.
I say, if you can find this film, rent it. But if you can find Phantasmagoria for the PC, get that game and be happier! Also if you love haunted house stories, and are pissed off at the new ones that suck ass, then 13 Gantry Row will take that bad scent away!
Overall Rating: B+