Polterheist

The history of the gangster film is littered with double crosses and desperate attempts to find out where the loot has been stashed. Tariq (Sid Akbar Ali) and Boxy (Jamie Smelt) are more desperate than most. Having accidentally killed Frank (Kev McAuley) when they were attempting to force him to reveal the location of the money they stole together, they feel they have no choice but to try and get the truth out of his ghost - so they kidnap a psychic (Kathryn Hanke) and demand her assistance.

Is this a world in which psychic activity is real or illusory? Writers Gilbank and Renhard wisely resolve that one early on - their victim, possessed by Frank, knows too many details about his former colleagues' lives for fakery to be likely. So we can focus on the story, and on the power shifts that take place between the players.

Most notable among these is the dramatic difference between how Tariq and Boxy treat the psychic and how they treat Frank. This is, after all, the same body, small and not particularly imposing, a bandaged hand suggesting that it would be of limited use in a fight. A simple shift in posture and aggressive use of language (imagine a less eloquent Malcolm Tucker) suddenly sees the guys with the guns backing off, apologising, scared and uncertain. This seems to have less to do with the supernatural than with their guilt. They're intrigued by the fact they're speaking to a ghost, and ask all sorts of inane questions over the course of the journey that follows.

In keeping with genre standards, this film packs a couple of twists. Some minor plot holes are created in the process but the central idea is strong and the character drama works well, with good dialogue including some zingy one liners. Hanke clearly has fun with the kind of role rarely available to women, though it's Ali who stands out, building personality into what is otherwise the least developed part. From a technical standpoint, the film is simple but well executed, and Gilbank uses the mundanity of its setting to counterpoint the excesses of the plot, adding to the comedy on which it all depends. The result is an entertaining work which doesn't achieve all its aims but does a lot more with its premise than might have been expected.