Borley Rectory: The Awakening, the derided horror featuring Emmerdale stars Patsy Kensit and Vicki Michelle, is trending in the UK. Despite being widely panned, it hasn’t deterred audiences from checking the project out.
The film, which is available to stream on Prime Video, is set in 1900 and follows Reverend Henry Bull who, along with his sister Kitty, takes over the “majestic” family mansion in Essex.
They soon get more than they bargained for, however, with the luxury building concealing a sinister past that lurks within. As they delve deeper, they are faced with demonic entities and paranormal activity.
In addition to Kensit and Michelle, who played Sadie King and Patricia Foster on the ITV soap respectively, the cast for the film includes Julian Glover and Helen Lederer. Steven M Smith, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Jolley, directed the horror.
After being released on Prime Video last week, Borley Rectory: The Awakening has proved to be a success at least in terms of viewership, with the horror currently in the #7 position on the streamer’s UK film chart (via FlixPatrol).
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Despite this, the reception has been more mixed, with one user on Letterboxd writing: “The whole thing reeks of ‘that’ll do’ boring and with an overall feeling of wonkyness as nothing’s seems to have had much effort put into it.”
“I wanted to watch a good film tonight, so this was disappointing. It’s the Sharknado of British costume dramas. It also could’ve done with being a bit shorter,” remarked another disappointed viewer.
“Absolutely awful film. Acting terrible and storyline completely predictable. Henry’s beard kept coming adrift!! Very low budget,” wrote one other user, while another opined: “Bad acting, side burns looked glued on, mediocre story & repetitive.”
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There were some more enthusiastic viewers, however, with one writing: “I really enjoyed watching this period chiller. It had a lovely slow build, full of suspense and intrigue. I was very impressed with the end quality, and the film punches well above its weight.
“Outstanding performances from a stellar cast, including both some big names, and some up and coming talent too. Hats off to Steven M Smith for a well-written and executed supernatural tale with classic charm!” they continued.
Borley Rectory: The Awakening is streaming now on Prime Video. Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.