Set against the backdrop of the Irish famine, this one-of-a-kind folk horror film follows a grieving father and daughter as they relocate to a remote country estate where they, and they alone, are to serve as caretaker during its winter months. “What if Alexander follows me here?” asks Máire (Livvy Hill) as she stands shivering on the doorstep of her new home. Dad’s response – that ghost Alexander isn’t real, and he doesn’t want to hear that name again – is just a little too aggressive, foreshadowing the escalating tensions to come.
Directed by John Farrelly, An Taibhse is a particularly harrowing take on the haunted house film, every creaking floorboard and pitch-black doorway pregnant with malice and dread. As a two-hander between the pair, it’s powerfully acted by Hill and Tom Kerrisk – the latter giving Jack Nicholson a run for his money as the angry alcoholic caretaker with a thing for shaggy stubble and staring off into the distance. It may borrow liberally from The Shining and other Gothic/Folk horror counterparts, but it remains unique in itself anyway, as the first Irish language horror film ever made.
Jump scares are unnecessary but effectively deployed, while the house and its grounds are gorgeously shot by Farrelly and cinematographer Ross Power. The plug sockets and light switches are regrettable, but, to some, may serve as a welcome distraction from the all-consuming darkness.
Farrelly’s script is as slow a burn as the candles which light every room and dingy corridor, eking out tension as a wardrobe door swings open and shut, or as Daddy demolishes a whole bottle at his study table. Where this is all headed becomes clear early on, but that doesn’t make the journey there any less upsetting.
AN TAIBHSE (THE GHOST) premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 23rd, 2024.
