To research the life of Zara (Bryony Harvey), a British born daughter of Turkis immigrants who has made it into her own as a blogger/influencer, for a book, writer Lily (Natasha Linton) has agreed to join her on her journey to wherever for the next few days, and before they know it, they have booked passage on a barge to Birmingham, the Lady-Jane, via the English canals, with slightly creepy, slightly eccentric and slightly old-fashioned boatsman Willard (Sean Botha), who seems to be obsessed with a dark secret from his own past. The particular waterways they travel are said to be haunted by a demon called Ràn (Helene Udy), who's said to feed on the souls of those with sin, a story Zara soon becomes obsessed with, and she makes the story the topic of most of her vlogs - to the dismay of Lily, who wanted to find out more about Zara rather than about some silly ghost story. But she gets more and more intrigued by Willard's secret, not knowing that the two stories have much to do with one another - and dangerously so ...

Deliberately slowburn in approach, The Haunting of the Lady-Jane is a blend of ghost story and folk horror that relies heavily on atmosphere - captured in its beautifully haunting imagery - and gradual build-up of tension that's also achieved by slowly joining the at first very disparate backstories of the three protagonists. And a genre savvy directorial effort that gets the most out of its locations (including the titular claustrophobia-inducing barge), and a strong small ensemble cast playing interesting and relatable character help make this a pretty cool piece of horror.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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