Urban Ghost Story might not have had a huge budget and plenty of action set pieces with over dazzling visual effects, but it is a damn good movie with a novel premise, interesting story and some fine performances.
Newcomer Heather Ann Foster plays 12 year old Lizzie, a young girl who is brought back from the dead after she is involved in a drug fuelled joyride that has terrifying consequences. Lizzie’s best friend is killed, and as a result everyone assumes that she is suffering from survivors guilt. It soon becomes apparent however that something might have come back with Lizzie when the doctors revived her.
Although this film was not made in Scotland, they have done a damn good job of recreating the look and feel of a poor urban area of Glasgow, and I’m almost ashamed to say that the characters are typical of some people found here in Scotland.
The film’s minimalist look may be due to its budget, but the filmmakers are smart and would have known that with little money they would have to keep it simple, and so the sets serve a purpose to the story.
The cast are really good and familiar too, what with Jason Connery and Billy Boyd putting in performances, and Nicola Stapleton doing what she does best.
The film at time of release had a novel approach to fresh subject material, and it still holds up, despite some similar ideas having since been used in other genre films.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Urban Ghost Story is a really good film and far better than most recent British horror movies. This film is definitely worth a look as it’s still very refreshing 7 years later.
