Review: Polterheist (15)

Yorkshire recently premiered of a homegrown movie that skilfully manages to combine gangsters, ghosts and comedy.

Made on a tiny budget of £80,000, raised by director Dave Gilbank and his team, Polterheist was filmed in and around Bradford over the course of eight to ten months between May last year and January this year. Since then the film has been entered in to festivals around the world and has won over thirty awards. Suffice to say there is a bit of a buzz around it – and that is well deserved.

It tells the story of two gangsters who are given 72 hours to find a stash of drug money stolen by their boss – the only problem is they have just murdered him. Desperate to track down the cash, the hapless pair kidnap a psychic medium and coerce her into contacting the dead gang boss, Frank, thereby unwittingly unleashing a none-too-happy evil spirit who has violent vengeance in mind. The central performances from Sid Akbar Ali and Jamie Cymbal as the bumbling small-time crooks, Pushpinder Chani as a terrifying cricket-loving crime kingpin and especially Jo Mousley in the dual role of mild-mannered mystic Alice and the embodiment of the belligerent Frank, are all excellent. They are backed up by brilliant supporting turns from a huge cast of local actors and extras.

The West Yorkshire locations are used to great effect and the genre-busting script provides thrills and laughs aplenty. A wonderfully accomplished low-budget gem.