5 Star

Awesomely Gripping

Serial Suspense King writer/director József Gallai (Moth, Spirits In The Dark, A Guidebook to Killing Your Ex, Bodom, The Whispering Man, Aftermath) brings us his latest instalment of edge of the seat suspense and deep dread. From the start you know that this is a dark tale, but is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Roll VT…

In 2019, More than 600,000 missing persons’ cases were registered in the United States.

Only 15% of them were found alive.

We see we are in the middle of nowhere, trees as far as the eye can see. Then a shaky voice tells a police operator of his plight. He has shot a man and his brother Jacob Taylor (András Korcsmáros, Outrageus Office, The Whispering Man, The Last Kingdom (TV Series)) has run away and cannot be found.

Time passes as Ben Taylor (Péter Inoka, A pillanat, Aftermath, P.S.O: In the Name of My Father) posts notices to help find his vanished brother, as we see memories of happier times when Jacob was a happier man (allegedly). He found Kimberly (Kata Kuna, Boszorkányház) and they fell in love, but Jacob hated city life and always  yearned for a simpler, quieter life.

Uncertainty pollutes everything.

Now months later a documentary maker (József Gallai) is interested in this story, and this is how we find out about Jacob’s life and relationships, especially about when their mother suffers a cerebal edema and is hospitalised, and the brothers used to visit every weekend. We hear from Jacob’s work colleague Lena Blomqvist (Anita Tóth, Snow of the Dream) and her daughter Helen (Zsófia Gallai, Spirits in the Dark) and how he would spend more time at his mothers hospital.

It is a shock when he quits his job and manages to find a house in the middle of nowhere for a steal of a price, but it is definitely a doer-upper. Jacob loves the outdoors and his seclusion, and it is a shock when he finds that his not the only person in the woods.

Many things were tried to find Jacob including friends and family recording video messages, to prompt Jacob to get in touch, even his estranged stepfather   John McBride (Eric Roberts, The Expendables, The Dark Knight, Star Trek: Captain Pike) took time to get in touch.

The house used to belong to an old man who passed away in the house, and his family are thousands of miles away, hence the snip of a price. The house has a mystery, the locked door #4. No Key, no clue. It seems even the seclusion is not happy with his new move.

Things just get weirder from here, and you are dragged along, watching every corner and every shadow as things go bump in the night.

Once again József Gallai ramps up the suspense and fear. Talk about character building, we get to know every aspect of Jacob’s life and psyche before the film gets going, and we feel his isolation and his vulnerability. Definitely one to watch out for, release details (watch this space)

The Poltergeist Diaries is available on DVD