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Amazon.co.uk Review
Starring Dominic West (The Wire, 300), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Oscar®-nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), The Awakening is the chilling new supernatural thriller from Nick Murphy. In post-World War I England in 1921, an author and paranormal skeptic (Hall) is invited to a countryside boarding school by the head master (West) to investigate rumours of an apparent haunting. But just when she thinks she has debunked the ghost theory, she has a chilling encounter which makes her question all her rational beliefs.
DVD Description
Starring Dominic West (The Wire, 300), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Oscar®-nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), THE AWAKENING is the chilling new supernatural thriller from Nick Murphy, set for release on 11 November 2011. In post-World War I England in 1921, an author and paranormal sceptic (Hall) is invited to a countryside boarding school by the history master (West) to investigate rumours of an apparent haunting. But just when she thinks she has debunked the ghost theory, she has a chilling encounter which makes her question all her rational beliefs.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The film is very atmospheric and a great traditional British haunted house story.
It does help if you have a knowledge of spiritualism and how research into the paranormal is conducted because it makes it easier to accept the plot line that there are rational explanations to so called hauntings. But sometimes there simply is no explanation and even the most hardened researchers get 'sucked-in'. This film covers both aspects and adds a yearning to come to terms with personal grief against the back drop of the horrendous loss of young life in the Great War and the physiological impact on those who survived.
If you enjoyed the 'Sixth Sense' and 'The Others' then 'The Awakening' is right up your street. Great performances from Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton.
It does help if you have a knowledge of spiritualism and how research into the paranormal is conducted because it makes it easier to accept the plot line that there are rational explanations to so called hauntings. But sometimes there simply is no explanation and even the most hardened researchers get 'sucked-in'. This film covers both aspects and adds a yearning to come to terms with personal grief against the back drop of the horrendous loss of young life in the Great War and the physiological impact on those who survived.
If you enjoyed the 'Sixth Sense' and 'The Others' then 'The Awakening' is right up your street. Great performances from Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As a keen horror fan, this movie sounded like it was right up my street and having looked at some reviews online which were heavily favourable, I was hopeful it would be a great watch. Perhaps because my expectations were set so high, this film did leave me a little disappointed....
The movie started off well, with an interesting and charming lead character (played by Rebecca Hall) who you take an instant liking to. As a ghost "hunter" set on disproving the existence of ghosts and exposing people who fake them for financial gain, she doesn't fall into the typical haunting "victim" category. When she's asked to investigate a haunting at a boys boarding school, it starts off well - the first night having lots of activity which keeps you in suspense waiting for that moment you know is coming where something will make you jump - unfortunately it didn't really come but the suspense was good enough to keep me engaged anyway.
Unfortunately after that, the plot seems to go downhill and become somewhat disjointed with several scenes that just don't seem to add anything to the story or really e.g. falling into the lake, the attempted rape etc.
<WARNING - THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN SPOILERS. SKIP TO LAST PARAGRAPH TO AVOID>
Other scenes just made no sense once you realise that Tom is a ghost for example, who did Robert believe Florence was speaking to about her fiancée if not Tom? Did he hear just her side of the conversation? If so, it would have made no sense!
I also felt that several bits of the plot were left as loose ends when they really needn't have been. For example Tom indicated that he was scared of someone (which we must assume is te ghost of his father) but this is never picked up again after Florence knows the truth and I was unable to understand why Florence could no longer see Tom or Maud after Maud killed herself - what would cause this? Finally, while I could just about "buy" that Florence had forgotten the trauma of her childhood (despite apparently having wrote about it in her book), I did struggle to believe that she didn't even know who her parents were, how they died or that lady caring for her in the initial scenes wouldn't have some indication? I initially thought maybe I'd "missed something" and perhaps I have, but having spoken to others who watched it I didn't seem to be alone!
Overall, this movie had real potential and it's direction and general "feel" are great, as is the lead character Florence but it's let down by what appears to be either poor editing and/or a requirement to cut time out of the movie which has left gaps making the scenes feel disjointed or nonsensical. It's worth watching, but don't expect to be left scared out of your skin from this one - it's more about the emotional relationships than it is the spooky ghosts.
The movie started off well, with an interesting and charming lead character (played by Rebecca Hall) who you take an instant liking to. As a ghost "hunter" set on disproving the existence of ghosts and exposing people who fake them for financial gain, she doesn't fall into the typical haunting "victim" category. When she's asked to investigate a haunting at a boys boarding school, it starts off well - the first night having lots of activity which keeps you in suspense waiting for that moment you know is coming where something will make you jump - unfortunately it didn't really come but the suspense was good enough to keep me engaged anyway.
Unfortunately after that, the plot seems to go downhill and become somewhat disjointed with several scenes that just don't seem to add anything to the story or really e.g. falling into the lake, the attempted rape etc.
<WARNING - THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN SPOILERS. SKIP TO LAST PARAGRAPH TO AVOID>
Other scenes just made no sense once you realise that Tom is a ghost for example, who did Robert believe Florence was speaking to about her fiancée if not Tom? Did he hear just her side of the conversation? If so, it would have made no sense!
I also felt that several bits of the plot were left as loose ends when they really needn't have been. For example Tom indicated that he was scared of someone (which we must assume is te ghost of his father) but this is never picked up again after Florence knows the truth and I was unable to understand why Florence could no longer see Tom or Maud after Maud killed herself - what would cause this? Finally, while I could just about "buy" that Florence had forgotten the trauma of her childhood (despite apparently having wrote about it in her book), I did struggle to believe that she didn't even know who her parents were, how they died or that lady caring for her in the initial scenes wouldn't have some indication? I initially thought maybe I'd "missed something" and perhaps I have, but having spoken to others who watched it I didn't seem to be alone!
Overall, this movie had real potential and it's direction and general "feel" are great, as is the lead character Florence but it's let down by what appears to be either poor editing and/or a requirement to cut time out of the movie which has left gaps making the scenes feel disjointed or nonsensical. It's worth watching, but don't expect to be left scared out of your skin from this one - it's more about the emotional relationships than it is the spooky ghosts.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Awakening is a brilliant British ghost story set after World War 1. The main character Florance Cathcart is an educated woman with a hazy backstory, who debunks mediums and associated lines of work as being charlatans. She is then recruited by a school to investigate alleged ghostly occurrences using logic and science to understand what is going on. I won't reveal any more of the plot than that because I don't want to give away any spoilers. Needless to say, there are twists and turns along the way, some of which I didn't see coming. There are a few jumps along the way as you would expect from a film of this type, but there is no real horror aspect to it, instead relying on suspense and imagination to shock rather than gratuitous gore. The film itself is not fast paced, but I liked that. At 107 minutes in length, it is a decent length and despite the relatively slow pacing, I didn't feel it dragged at any point.
Regarding the acting, I thought the performances were outstanding, particularly the lead actress Rebecca Hall. She is in the majority of the scenes and is one of the reasons why the film is so good. Her change in character over time is brilliantly executed. Also, Maud (the school matron) played by Imelda Staunton is well played. I did find the main male character Robert Malory played by Dominic West to be a little wooden, but that might just have been due to the fact that Rebecca Hall was so good.
The film is beautifully shot and the locations are superb. The colours in the film are slightly dulled, giving it a nostalgic feel and means the film never looks too jolly or light.
I am a fan of film scores/soundtracks, and for those who are interested, the score can be found here: The Awakening OST. Essentially, there is some tense atmospheric music, but the wonderful main theme for Florance Cathcart features some great writing for the solo violin, which I rather liked.
Overall, this is a good old fashioned ghost story that contains fantastic acting, is beautifully shot and has a wonderfully haunting score. The general story is good, but the inevitable plot twist felt a little too big. That said, I thought the quality of the film as a whole was good enough for that to not be a huge issue. The film also is also worthy of at least two watches to catch things you might have missed first time. In my opinion, this is a solid 4* film that does not deserve some of the poor reviews it has received on here. If you liked films such as The Others and The Orphanage, you will definitely appreciate The Awakening.
Regarding the acting, I thought the performances were outstanding, particularly the lead actress Rebecca Hall. She is in the majority of the scenes and is one of the reasons why the film is so good. Her change in character over time is brilliantly executed. Also, Maud (the school matron) played by Imelda Staunton is well played. I did find the main male character Robert Malory played by Dominic West to be a little wooden, but that might just have been due to the fact that Rebecca Hall was so good.
The film is beautifully shot and the locations are superb. The colours in the film are slightly dulled, giving it a nostalgic feel and means the film never looks too jolly or light.
I am a fan of film scores/soundtracks, and for those who are interested, the score can be found here: The Awakening OST. Essentially, there is some tense atmospheric music, but the wonderful main theme for Florance Cathcart features some great writing for the solo violin, which I rather liked.
Overall, this is a good old fashioned ghost story that contains fantastic acting, is beautifully shot and has a wonderfully haunting score. The general story is good, but the inevitable plot twist felt a little too big. That said, I thought the quality of the film as a whole was good enough for that to not be a huge issue. The film also is also worthy of at least two watches to catch things you might have missed first time. In my opinion, this is a solid 4* film that does not deserve some of the poor reviews it has received on here. If you liked films such as The Others and The Orphanage, you will definitely appreciate The Awakening.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Is there a ghost or isnt there?
Having seen this film at the cinema when it was first released I immediately put it on my list to buy when out on DVD. Read more
Published 10 days ago by John H. Everington
One of the best ghost films I've seen in a long, long while
I love a good ghost story. There's something about it that speaks to the primeval, the child in me hiding beneath the covers, shaking with fear and excitement. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Matthew Dent
A decent psychological horror, with ghosts!
First off, I can't work out why this film is a cert. 15, whilst The Woman in Black [Blu-ray] was rated a cert.12 as both are very similar films. Oh! Read more
Published 18 days ago by Skimbole
Great little paranormal thriller
It was a very good nice creepy little thriller/horror and in these days of billion dollar CGI effects is was a nice chance to watch a film that was created with the talent of the... Read more
Published 21 days ago by Mr. George Johnson
Awful Quality
Just watched this film,and while I wanted to enjoy it,the picture quality of the bluray was so bad it annoyed me all the way through. Read more
Published 22 days ago by A. E. Brayton
Not as good as it could have been
I had high hopes for this film but in the end it left me a bit underwhelmed. It's well cast and acted (with a caveat to come in a moment), beautifully lit with sombre, washed out... Read more
Published 27 days ago by J & K
Brilliant
I loved this film. It was a traditional, British Horror film. Of the Haunted and Paranormal variety. Rebecca Hall as Florence, and Imelda Staunton were fantastic in their roles. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jinty
does what it says on the tin
As reassuring as a digestive biscuit or apple crumble, after a short while you realise you've seen this film before- except last time it starred Nicole Kidman. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Boswell
10 out of 10
Fantastic,Excellent & superb. Genuis film to watch. I wont give away too much but I watched it twice the same day and again with my partner the next day. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Welshdeb
OK...but that's all
The setting in a boy's school and the idea of using a period when mediums were much used...well, it all starts well. Read more
Published 1 month ago by London Matron
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