"Ghost Light" (2018) - Review

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John Stimpson's "Ghost Light" is a quaint absurd supernatural comedy about a travelling theatre company; whose desperation for escaping their status is rivalled only by their lack of self-awareness.

"Ghost Light" prescribes the superstitious practices of theatre folk. Firstly, a single light must always remain on in an empty theatre to ward off evil spirits. Secondly, one must never utter the name of the Shakespearian tragedy Macbeth unless it is part of the performance: one should refer to the production as "The Scottish Play". When Macbeth's understudy, Thomas Ingram (Tom Riley), defies this legend by loudly screaming the character's name - the curse that originated in the 1600s when an actor playing Lady Macbeth died suddenly mid-production - descends on this a backwater theatre.

The core of "Ghost Light" is a loveably bad assortment of misfit fringe actors, either "aged out" of relevance or living their lives with fireside tales of casting 'what-ifs'. Horror movies usually work, or don't, on a film's ability to get you invested in the core group of characters and empathise with the closing vice grip of a tormenting force - whatever that may be. In this critic's mind, the more challenging is creating a group of people that you both care about and kind of relish in the prospect of their demise. Unfortunately, Stimpson and co-writer Geoffrey Taylor create the conditions to cringe at these characters; in-fighting, petty threats about losing their employment, infidelity and awful acting. However, Stimpson and Taylor make the inspired choice that once the curse touches the characters, they're not only in mental and mortal danger, but the quality of the production and the performances elevates beyond anything they've produced to date.

Cary Elwes is terrific as the wooden blowhard Alex Pankhurst, the daytime soap quality lead whose near-death experiences suddenly awaken his ability. After decades of watching Elwes, it's fun to watch him force himself to be this bad and a relief to see (despite the circumstances) that he's still got it. Pankhurst's wife, Shannyn Sossamon's Liz Beth Stevens is having an affair with understudy Riley's Thomas. In more ways than one, Sossamon is the Lady Macbeth of "Ghost Light"; her grip on reality slips away and reveals a worthy embodiment of the character. Scott Adsit and Roger Bart's Archie and Henry - the directors of the play have a delightful interplay, acknowledging the poor quality of their production while maintaining their eccentric cast's encouragement.

Steve Tom's Elliot Wadsworth is the grand old professional. Tom is the manifest destiny of the younger folk in this troupe with a silver look of a Laurence Olivier but a manner of your old uncle who naps after a meal at a family function. His partner is the delightfully weird Carol Kane as Madeline Styne. No comedy cannot be improved by adding Kane's singular strangeness. Watching Bart's Henry ask Kane's Madeline to dial down her performance as a witch typifies the gap between perception and reality that plagues this desperate crew.

Outside of the confines of the theatre, the haunting of the players doesn't always tonally work. The depiction of the character visions varies in quality, and the aesthetic choices don't do any favours for the modest budget. However, once you get into the forgiving dark of the show, haunted elements sing, and Stimpson begins adopting inventive dutch angles and clever uses of light to enliven proceedings. Maybe it's the perverse outlook of this critic, but I would have encouraged Stimpson to go more absurd and crazier with "Ghost Light" - but what's here is quite a gas.

★★½/★★★★

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