4 star

Highly atmospheric found-footage style horror / mystery.

Spirits In The Dark is the latest production from Hungarian filmmaker / director / star József Gallai (Bodom, Moth, A Guidebook To Killing Your Ex).

Hitting the festival circuit in 2019, VOD and DVD releases are confirmed for sometime in 2019 and the film will also be released on VOD and DVD worldwide by Wild Eye Releasing before the end of 2019.

Follow the Spirits In The Dark Facebook page for further updates.

Shot in a mixture of both conventional filming and hand held camera work, Spirits In The Dark manages to achieve a unique feel, complimented perfectly by a haunting soundtrack from Gergö Elekes (Bodom, Moth).

It tells us he story of Gil Spencer (Gallai), an urban exploration enthusiast who, along with his wife Stephanie (Beáta Boldog) likes to explore and record old and long abandoned buildings.

When his wife dies mysteriously (the how and why are only hinted at), he finds himself lonely and depressed until his rather sinister friend Olly (Peter Cosgrove – Escape From Cannibal Farm, Evil Souls) sends him a recording of an abandoned building. This one however is a little different. It appears to show the ghost of a woman and a necklace very similar to the one his wife used to wear.

Intrigued, he sets out to find and explore this building, which seems to be in a nearby abandoned town, and upon further inspection finds more than he bargained for.

Spirits In The Dark is a very interesting film, with an ending which certainly makes you think, to the point of being slightly confusing. The locations are incredibly creepy and so well chosen that they almost feel like the main character of the film.

Gil is rarely seen, instead we see the footage he films, accompanied by his voice over, building the tension as you go. This film won’t be for everyone, there is an awful lot of exploration footage before things really start to get weird and if you’re after gore you won’t find it here, this is slow burning unease rather than jump scares and blood. It is all beautifully filmed, edited and lit and extremely well presented.

The final few minutes of the film are worth the wait and it’s a good, albeit simple premise, well worth watching if you like found footage films or exploration videos. There’s lots of brilliant drone action too, with some amazing foggy flybys of empty buildings.

Another excellent offering from Gallai, who is full of good ideas and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

“Sometimes we need to see things to believe them.”