The Canal Poster

The Canal (2014)

Horror | Thriller 
Rayting:   5.9/10 13.4K votes
Country: Ireland | UK
Language: English
Release date: 8 May 2015

A depressed and stressed film archivist finds his sanity crumbling after he is given an old 16mm film reel with footage from a horrific murder that occurred in the early 1900's.

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User Reviews

parsonm2 23 March 2015

Having seen tons of horror movies, I decided to give this a fair chance. I enjoyed it. It's well filmed, well acted and well written. It's about a couple and child who move into a house (with a dark history). The man soon after discovers his wife is cheating on him and dies under mysterious circumstances. The police suspect him, he suspects a dark force related to the house is to blame. The movie is filmed in such a way that the viewer isn't certain if a dark force is responsible or the man is possibly insane. Even the man is struggling with that as he desperately tries to weave the facts together to solve what occurred to his wife. All the while, his four year old son remains in the house being scared to death by his father.

Bottom Line- I liked the movie but perhaps being a parent with small children of my own caused me more difficulty in watching it. It's probably one of the better movies of this type but I don't see myself wanting to review it again at any point in the future.

Argemaluco 5 November 2016

Fmovies: Unlike the North American "haunted house" movies, the Irish film The Canal adopts a more cerebral and psychological perspective, minimizing the shocks and supernatural events in order to emphasize the oppressive atmosphere, the performances and the intense domestic drama suffered by the ambivalent main character, who might be imagining everything, or really on the right track to an evil presence inhabiting the walls of his house. In that aspect, The Canal reminded me of the also excellent The Babadook, because the screenplay is tense and fascinating even from before the adding of the supernatural elements. Rupert Evans makes a perfect work in the leading role, making us feel his character's desperation, trying to comprehend what's going on while not being able to genuinely share his suspicions in order not to run the risk of being considered crazy. The rest of the cast also brings very good performances, highlighting Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Kelly Byrne. In conclusion, I bring an enthusiastic recommendation to The Canal, mainly to the fans of psychological horror who don't need constant shocks or constant special effects in order to appreciate the pros of a simultaneously passive and shocking tale, until leading to a grotesque, disturbing and definitely satisfactory ending.

wycherleyp-960-470658 2 April 2015

Its been a while since i gave a horror/thriller such a good score but its hard not to score this film high as this masterpiece from ivan kavanagh which is a very clever tale of a missing person with a twist of supernatural, with plenty of suspense scenes that get you to edge of your seat or behind a pillow and a story that will grip you till the end of the credits where you will still be sitting there after the film has finished in silence while this film is still taking effect. Rupert evans (david) is superb and he takes you through so many emotions that you don't know what to do or how to handle it, calum heath (billy) is a star in the making. I advise you to watch this but turn your phone off and do not be disturbed for 93 minutes of nothing short of cinema magic but be warned its not for the faint of hearted!!

airsnob 21 February 2015

The Canal fmovies. This movie gave me the bad creeps. Couldn't walk downstairs alone after. Had to wake my husband ups total freak show. I had to hide my eyes for parts. Right down to the ending. I wasn't that impressed by The Conjouring. At all. This movie is that movie to the tenth power. It's a slow creep. It's strange how we all get scared by different things. I'm not a jump out scare person. I'm the type that likes the times when you know something horrible is coming. And you have to make yourself look.. This movie did kinda copy a part in The Ring. Another movie that scared me when it first came out. It was just as effective this time around. The demons in this movie are scary. The murder scene in this movie is probably the most shocking one I've seen on film. It was so in your face. Most times movies try to hide in some shadows, or clips.. This movie gave me the feeling I wanted to step back. To get away. I needed some space between me and the scene. Anyways, make sure you have someone to hold onto. Don't watch this one alone.

caniac-88291 6 September 2019

Despite some of the poor reviews I've read here, I found this to be a completely coherent and excellent psychological Thriller/Horror movie! Yes you will see some themes borrowed from other films, but let's be honest every movie does that. The cinematography was amazing. The score was arranged with a lot of attention to details and made it perfect backdrop to the film. Transitions and shadows were creepy and eerie. About the only thing that annoyed me what's the editing in which the way the editor wood chop out frames causing a time jump effect. This worked okay as a transition but awful during actress dialogue. All in all it was a great movie.

quincytheodore 23 January 2015

Captivating with intimate struggle, The Canal offers more than grisly scenes or bloody gore. It is imposing and disturbing on deeper psychological level, much credit to Rupert Evans who performs splendidly to that effect. In contrast to majority of horror flicks that have grainy filter, The Canal looks very quaint. The overlook of the vista or the color palette are brightly lit, but it effectively delivers a harrowing atmosphere.

David (Rupert Evans) is an archivist of retro movies who lives with his son and perhaps not so loving wife. He receives a movie that depicts his house was the site of a murder scene one century ago. David is a rather timid man, he has doubts and not particularly dominant. So, when he becomes more troubled by the prospect of phantom presence, he deteriorates mentally. Rupert Evans captures the character brilliantly, both verbally and with body language. It's very easy to see David as an average man, filled with hidden anger and nagging anguish.

The movie presents the terror with exquisite taste, it doesn't need cheap trick. It might show the scenes as David sees it or not show anything out of ordinary at all, the anticipation works better than the usual apparition shocks. As David's occupation is related to cinema, there are many sequences with antique cameras or slides. These old cryptic monochrome relic and modern screen mashes together exceptionally well, occasionally producing jittery motion which just feels inhuman.

With a pristine cinematography, the film is engagingly fun, although it may be odd to say this for a horror film. The angle and blitz fast editing are fresh, it focuses at the right thing at the right moment, it's simply hard to not be immersed. Most of the time it depicts a beautiful landscape of European suburb, yet it has underlying bleakness to it which is persuasively disturbing.

There have not been many films that create horror in such personal level, let with alone solid cinematography. The Canal is nightmarish delightful.

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