BLITHE SPIRIT
Watchable. Set in 1937 which is well recreated but the whole thing feels theatrical - no wonder, it's based on Noël Coward's play of the same title. The protagonist is a writer haunted by his deceased wife's ghost inadvertently summoned during a seance. He's at his wits' end as the interloper attempts to ruin his marriage. It's all aptly acted, especially by Leslie Mann as the ghost. She's an American, while Isla Fisher, impersonating the living wife, is an Australian. That explains how this British play has lost its Britishness in the acting process. The movie delivers quality visuals, e.g. cards swirling in the air. The twists announced by the apparition do take place. What pervades the movie is sarcasm rather than humour as such. At least that part's definitely British.
THE UNHOLY
Recommended. Based on James Herbert's book "Shrine", this supernatural horror induces fear through some jump scares, though unusual ones, and guarantees suspense. It also offers surrounding sound effects, even though recorded in ordinary Dolby. Music by Joseph Bishara, the composer behind "The Conjuring" and "Insidious" series, gives you the creeps till the very end of the end credits. The sense smuggled in the undertones that behind many priests there's Satan - "Right behind a shrine, the Devil builds a chapel" - renders it quite relevant to the contemporary revelations about the crimes of the Church.
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