Friday, March 4, 2016

The Last Light: An Irish Ghost Story



The Last Light: An Irish Ghost Story
Starring Robert Render, Jo Lamont-Crawford, and Vivian Jamison
Directed, Written and Produced by George Clarke
2011
Unrated
85 minutes

Saint Patrick's Day is nearly here and what better way to get ready for it than with an Irish ghost story?!

I found this movie on my Amazon Prime list of horror films. It got terrible ratings by ordinary viewers, but I don't always believe those since I like books and movies that are not mainstream, and it takes place in Ireland. So I decided to give it a chance and see what I thought after the first 20-30 minutes. It was a cold, winter evening anyway, so why not?


In this story, we follow along on the last job of Rob Walker, maintenance man, who has been hired to secure and close up an old house that had been used as an old folks' home. Supposedly teenagers are getting in and trashing the place, and it really is unsafe.

Rob says goodbye to his wife, Jo, and promises that it won't take long and he will be back in plenty of time to get ready for their planned trip on the next day. They think of this as a simple job, with only a few windows to board up, and then off they go for their holiday.

One of the best parts, cinematographically, is the drive Rob takes to his home and to the old house, which is located in a Irish coastal town. The gorgeous, winding drive along Ireland's coast is both beautiful to watch for the scenery, and also reminiscent of another familiar drive through gorgeous scenery, that of Jack Torrance through the mountains in The Shining

Finally Rob gets to the house. There is a big chain link fence around the property with a locked gate. A sign says, "Danger. Derelict Building. KEEP OUT."


Once he is near the house, we finally get a good look at it. It is a monster of a building--big, sprawling, dilapidated, sadly worn out from better, more affluent days. There are windows, lots of them, some boarded up but many not. Rob will have some work to do.

Right away we get a sense of the tension in the story, as Rob makes his way around the building, examining it for entrances or broken windows. The background music as Rob walks around the place is lovely, a lone violin with a mournful drone. One of the best things about this movie is the music since it is fairly simple instrumentally and sets the mood quite well.

We are introduced to the noises in the house as soon as Rob unlocks the massive deadbolt on the main door and surveys the scene with the greenish light from his torch. Upon trying to light his second cigarette and already not finding his lighter, he hears a bang from within the house and rushes off inside the dark maze of corridors to find the culprits, those kids trashing the house. Crazy eerie laughter is heard as they lead Rob on a merry chase of cat and mouse deeper and deeper into the darkness.

One of my favourite moments occurs early in Rob's exploration of the house. There is a bit of comic relief as he takes the time to make shadow animals on the wall in the green glow from his flashlight.

Fortunately, he has a flashlight. Oh, wait, he loses it too! What will he do now?

Okay, this movie is somewhat predictable with Rob chasing mysterious figures in white only half seen in the darkness  but who then attack him. I liked the close up effect of the ghosts attacking and Rob fighting them off, only to have the camera pull back so that we can see Rob is struggling by himself. The ghost has vanished. Lots of dripping water sounds and crumbling walls add to the effect of dereliction. 

When Rob doesn't return in time, who comes to the rescue? His wife and friend who, when she hears where Rob has gone, tells Jo, "That place is known for paranormal activity, violent paranormal activity."
"We all have guides, spirit guides. They're with us at all times.... If I can connect with my spirit guide I can find out if Rob's okay."
And in typical horror movie fashion, all does not go well with any of these people.

The title, The Last Light, comes from the ending of the movie. Rob has lost his torch, his cigarette lighter, and then used all of his matches in his attempt to get out of the house before the violent spirits get him. He does not see the hand of his now-deceased wife, holding a rosary, emerging out of the rubble of a wall that collapsed on her. Rob finds one more match, lights it, and sees his last ghost. The movie ends here with us supposing that Rob never does get out.

This movie is filmed in a fairly "realistic" style, very low budget (only £200), no fancy cinematography or effects. If you have seen The Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity, you will understand how this one looks. The filter on the camera is set to a blue/green tint to give a washed-out, colourless look to to everything, stressing the oldness and greyness of the big house we are about to enter. The last only real burst of colour we see in the film is at Rob and Jo's house with the red-orange walls and her bright clothing. Supposedly the lighting was zippo lighters and matches, an ipad light, and a maglite torch covered with a sandwich baggy.

There are major things that are never explained to us in the film. Who are the ghosts and what are they doing there? Who is Michael, the strange young man Rob finds in the attic under a plaid blanket? Why was Rob able to work at the house for several days previously with no difficulties but is now terrorized out of his wits? Who hired him for this job anyway? I guess I will never know the answers.
Cairndhu House, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

I do want to say something about the house used in this movie, Cairndhu House, located near Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was built for Stewart Clark, a wealthy Scottish textile industrialist in 1878 and was extended over the years, which explains its warren of hallways and rooms off of rooms.

Sir Thomas and
Lady Edith Dixon
In 1918, Edith Clark, daughter of Mr. Stewart Clark, came to live at the house with her husband, Sir Thomas Dixon. This was one of many of their homes and they further enlarged the home and estate, enjoying house and garden parties there.

In 1947, the house was donated to the Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority. It had become too big for the elderly Dixons and they hoped it would be used as a convalescent home and hospital. It opened as a convalescent home in 1950, but finding funds to run such a large building was difficult, so it was eventually closed in 1986. It has been left derelict for many years and is now reputed to be "one of the most haunted houses in Northern Ireland."



Who haunts Cairndhu House? I'm not sure, although now we can add Rob, Jo, and friend Viv to the list of ghosts.