My Thoughts: Urban Ghost Story is a somewhat realistic approach to the "ghost story" genre with a Scottish twist as the story is entirely set in Glasgow with Scottish characters. Although the acting is somewhat questionable at times, the story doesn't fall into the general cliches that most horror and ghost stories tend to, giving it a more tangible feel. The young actress who portrays the main character Lizzie gave I thought to be one of the most realistic performances of a troubled teen I've seen to date (and I was surprised that she has only had two more acting roles since this movie). Look out for a small role by Billy Boyd (before his brief shoot to fame with Lord of the Rings).
The filmmakers have done a wonderful job of draining the colour of the sets, giving Lizzie's world a rather drab and eerie appearance that is slightly unsettling yet all too familiar. The set itself is incredibly convincing as a rather run-down high rise that is in itself as much a character as Lizzie is and far more eerie and unnerving than any haunted house (and anyone who has ever been in a building like that would definitely agree).
Acting isn't great, as I mentioned, but the story has some potential here. One can't help but see the parallels between "Urban Ghost Story" and the true-life case of the infamous "Enfield Poltergeist" with some creative license. After seeing this I didn't doubt in my mind for a second that Lizzie is a fictional version of the real life Janet Hodgson, who reportedly suffered a similiar haunting as a preteen in the seventies.
The Plot: Lizzie, a troubled teen finds it hard to cope after surviving a car crash in which her best friend died. Three months after the incident, strange noises, moving furniture and unseen intruders begin to haunt Lizzie and her young mother. Convinced that they are being terrorized by a ghost, they bring in a journalist and a group of paranormal researchers to try and determine the cause of Lizzie's demons. Lizzie's only remaining friend is a sixteen year old single mother, Kerrie, who is an addict and a bad influence on the twelve year old Lizzie who is struggling to make sense out of everything in her life. As time goes on, the haunting gets more horrific, and Lizzie begins to come apart.
