The Haunting of Margam Castle

There's a podcast I listen to where guests are asked the worst film they've ever seen. Well I've got my new answer. This is, without doubt, that movie. I don't know where to start with this movie, but the acting is as good a place as any. It's woeful. The actors look like they're doing a read through, and do not believe a single thing they are saying. I've never heard of the 'leads', which is fine, as just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they can't act. But this lot can't. And as for the more established cast, they are equally as bad. Caroline Munro's turn as the cafe owner is cringeworthy. But not as cringeworthy as the 5 minute recipe for Welsh rarebit she provides us with. I'm deadly serious. As bad as the acting is, the writing is worse. To say it is clunky is an understatement. There is exposition everywhere and I actually felt for the actors having to spew it. There's one point where the scientists, scientists remember, scream "I don't doubt you both saw apparitions" to people who've been spooked. They weren't there. They're scientists, they should question everything. There is a lot of homage (sorry rip off) of other movies. 'Get out' written on a mirror - Amityville. The cafe scene - American Werewolf in London. (All we were missing was 'Don't stray from the path'). And the blatant "homage" to The Shining at the end (the "photograph"). Shame on you. And how is it shot? Badly. The director has a preoccupation with long, lingering shots of the building. It's architecture *. The trouble is, it's the same shot over and over again. An example being the stone staircase with the rope handrail. It is used around 6 times. The same shot. The nadir though is the scene in the main actress' home. (Forget about the UK plug sockets when we're supposed to be in New York). The director spends around 2 minutes on the actress at a microwave. Heaven knows why. And then there's the point later in the film where the earth shakes and the special effects are akin to 1970s Doctor Who where the actors had to throw themselves around the room. They literally have to act as if they're being thrown around the room. Then there is the editing. At one point, someone bursts into a room. The main actor then has to act surprised. Unfortunately for him, the editor left around 5 seconds between the person bursting in and the actor showing surprise. It's just odd. We then go from one extreme to another. Someone gets snatched and dragged out of a room. The main actor stops someone going after them by shouting "Leave it they've gone" when the editing suggests the victim is literally the other side of the doorway. To summarise - it's woeful. You can make an affecting horror with little money. The recent Zoom-Seance movie "Host' showed that. This director of The Haunting of Margam Castle needs to watch that and weep.

It is not terrible... but it's not good either... The acting from the two main characters was pretty horrible... the effects were cheesy and it just really dragged on. It was dry.. it's like eating a steak with no sauce.

After a spate of serial killer films Andrew Jones tries his hand at a classic ghost story and succeeds for the most part despite a few clunky moments. The movie throws elements from the Haunting, Legend of hell house, the Witchfinder General, Hammer horror and the Shining into a blender and a pretty fun ride results from it. One of his better efforts.

Looking for some horror films to watch during the Pandemic, I stumbled across this hot mess. The film mixes together clunky script, extremely bad acting, and the unintentionally funny moments to make for one of the single worst horror films in recent memory. Let's take for example the scene in the pub where all the characters talk ad nauseum about what Welsh Rarebit is! My favorite moment is when the medium is "seized" by one of the ghosts, and the character's response is to say, "She's gone! We can't help her." That was a laugh out loud moment. The actors playing the ghosts seem more like children dressing up for Halloween than anything remotely scary. Unless you want to use this film for a Mystery Science Theatre party, I'd suggest you use 90 minutes for something else.

This movie has the standard haunting story, nothing new here. I am fine with that. Being a big consumer of horror films, I am used to new films using old story lines. HOWEVER, and that's a big however, the acting in this movie is deplorable. It is painful to watch the lead female actor "acting". For most of the dialogue she appears to be reading off a script, rather than acting. It all seems very forced. It is just impossible to immerse yourself in the story when the characters are so unbelievable. As the title of this review says, this is the perfect movie not to watch - I suggest doing laundry instead, as that is bound to be a better experience than watching this movie.

The movie is brilliant. It gives a fresh perspective into horror the story takes the viewer on a thrilling journey. A must see that will keep you at the edge of your seat! And will make you want to visit the Margam Castle next time you're in wales.

Good grief this is awful. Seriously dull monotone stilted dialogue, cringeworthy outdated cliches about the British (cue lots of comments about how we're all apparently obsessed with the weather, have terrible teeth and go misty eyed at the thought of going to America). Slow action, an entire scene focussed on a character putting her dinner in a microwave. Turned it off after half hour (the film not the microwave). Seriously don't waste your time. The first moment where it was meant to be scary we burst out laughing. We were rooting for the ghosts.

Please don't. You know you have those movies that are so bad, they're good? Well this isn't one of them. I made the mistake of letting my wife have free reign over the tv remote tonight and this was the result. After 10 minutes she was asking to put Strictly back on. I told her I was going to make her watch this film until it finished. To add insult to injury, she then told me that she'd rented it (through my Sky account). Just over half way through, my wife said she had to go and check on our daughter. I didn't see her again until after the film had finished.