Reality in less than a paragraph
Harry Price was the original paranormal investigator. From the 1800s until his death in the 1940s, he traveled the United Kingdom searching for proof of ghosts and the fame/glory that could bring to him. His most well-known investigation took place in Borley Rectory, claiming it to be the most haunted house in England. He also worked to defraud mediums preying upon the grieving as part of his work for the Society for Psychical Research. He set up his own research organization when his self-promotion had member of the Society frown upon him. I confess, I don’t know the little details of his life, just the big information. Still, based upon these big details I watched these three films.
Harry Price: Ghost Hunter (2015)
Based on a novel and produced for ITV in the United Kingdom, this fictionalized account of Price is more like an adventure or a detective novel. It gives Price sidekicks, a love interest, and enough of a mystery to keep you interested. It felt like a lot of plot to fit into 90 minutes which made it a little muddled. Still, this was my favorite of the three. Then again, this was the one the least like what I think Price was actually like.
Rafe Spall plays Price as an empathetic, guilt ridden man determined to make amends to a world he wronged with medium trickery. He is in a race against time to save a politician’s wife from the asylum and prove ghosts have nothing to do with her mental state . . . or do they?
The Haunting of Borley Manor (2019)
I get it. Borley Rectory was the great haunting of Price’s career. This film was not great, but I’ve seen worse. This movie isn’t focused on Price, but it shows how investigating the Rectory effected him as he listens to the story of WWII soldier haunted by a ghostly nun (who I really could not tell if she was malevolent or misunderstood) while staying on the rectory grounds after the house burned down. I mean got the point of the film, don’t come for me, trolls. I’m just saying that the nun had a very changeable attitude through this mess.
Rad Brown plays Price as an adamant professor type, shaken by the haunting he viewed yet still obsessed with the past. He is mostly very English, you know stiff upper lip and examine the facts while secretly shaking in his boots.
The Ghosts of Borley Rectory (2021)
This and Haunting of Borley Manor were made by the same man (Stephen M. Smith). For clearly being obsessed with this story, Smith once again only used the names of real people for this low budget horror.
And low budget it was. THIS WAS THE WORST! It was a like a bad student film mixed with scenes from history channel re-enactments from the 90s! Somehow it had Julian Sands and Colin Baker in it which amused me, but mostly it was an hour and a half of boring conversations, bad costumes, and failed jump scares.
Toby Wynn-Davies is a little more realistic as Price, playing him as a manipulative and pompous investigator who is way to calm each time the killer nun shows up (except once and then he’s way to over-dramatic then goes back to acting like it was nothing).
Final thoughts - If you are interested in ghost hunters, check out our book From the Darkest Corner available in our shop!
* I have several upcoming movie and TV blogs coming up which were written before the writers’ strike. I’m just going to post them until I run out.