Settling into a new house isn’t easy: especially when it’s run by an unscrupulous landlord, inhabited by the undead, and set simultaneously in the UK and USA without a reliable point of reference in this trashy and boring horror wannabe, otherwise released and known as The Haunting of Annie Dyer.
The titular character finds that not long from moving in her apartment, something supernatural is trying to personally move into them – and they don’t want to pay rent. After seeing enough strange things happen, Dyer hires a paranormal detective to find out what the balls is going on, and the two team up together to try and discover the reason for the mysterious ghostly shenanigans at large.
Following the lengthy and uninteresting introduction, it’s apparent that not a single crew of the cast can display a convincing impression. Even the lead is painfully thin of personality or talent. The landlord actor probably is the most memorable with a hammy and humorous show of a stereotypical sleazy and clandestine scumbag, who admittedly puts some energy into the show, but that’s the best it can offer.
Worse still is the student-level ability of direction. In fact scratch that, it’s insulting to students. The special effects appear as if they’re presets which come out of the box with the editing suite. The framing composition is awkward and lopsided. Lines are dubbed with a robotic sense of emotion. And why is a residential flat furnished with a business style table and chairs?
Its cheesy and upbeat soundtrack is also strikingly unbalanced and out of place, interfering with the mood of mystery and tension which the flick is presumably attempting to create; though the dark ambient tracks aren’t so terrible, the eclectic use of everything from flutes and blaring trumpets to industrial kicks and breakdowns feels more like an act of showing off, instead of concentrating on the design and environmental presentation.
While this is total trash, one forgiving aspect (aside from the sleazeball property owner) is a moment of quality. As the poor tormented woman is being harassed out of her mind by evil and wicked forces, the cupboards start laughing in the midst of the terror. From all the blunders, this level of slapstick incompetence was legitimately hysterical, and must qualify somewhere for a so-bad-it’s-good scene. What about the rest? Just plain old bad.
2/10
Possession Media 