Day 13 – The Moor – British Horror Film Festival 2023

Day: 13 Film: The Moor

Type: Paranormal

Country: UK Year: 2023

Writer: Paul Thomas Director: Chris Cronin

Rating: 7.5 / 10

When Claire (Sophia La Porta) was a child, her best friend Danny was abducted during a spate of child kidnapping crimes in and around the Yorkshire Moors. Parents stopped letting their children walk home alone, terrified that the horror that hundreds of families in the area were going through would happen to them also. When the perpetrator was finally caught and tried for his crimes, they never released images of his face – avoiding giving him the celebrity status he craved, but in doing so, keeping children in Yorkshire terrified years after he was imprisoned.

Twenty-five years later, Danny’s father Bill (David Edward-Robertson) is still searching for the truth, desperate to find his son to finally bring him home and put his soul to rest. He approaches Claire for help, hoping that increasing the manpower will help them find Danny once and for all. The two of them start to take trips out to the moor, alongside their guide Liz (Vicki Hackett), dowser Alex (Mark Peachy) and Alex’s daughter Eleanor (Elizabeth Dormer-Phillip). Eleanor is a psychic with a connection to the spirit world, allowing her to make fast progress, but in doing so awakens something dark and evil – something that may not ever let them leave.

The Moor written by Paul Thomas, is predominantly a very sad, touching drama about grief and the metaphorical ghosts left behind after a tragic experience. The characters are believable and realistic, eliciting sympathy fast for their plight of desperation and depression. The elements of horror aren’t really prevalent completely until the second half of the film, where the supernatural elements start coming into play, embedding into what was otherwise mostly quite a realistic narrative. But the undertones of something amiss are there from the outset – the foggy weather, dark lighting and vast, seemingly never-ending landscape of the beautiful but haunting moors.

This is definitely a slow burn, taking a while to get to the few brilliantly executed paranormal scenes in the latter half. But because of the intriguing characters and the touching storyline, you’re already gripped enough to almost forgive the lack of horror, then when you are finally delivered the supernatural, it’s such a wonderful, and also surprisingly unexpected pay off, that it satisfies the need for something spooky. There are the occasional go-pro shots that add a ‘found-footage’ element, that could either be utilised more for further effect, or removed completely – as how they are featured currently are sparingly and to not much avail. At a few points, it feels as though the narrative is coming to a close, but then the storyline meanders in a different direction, bringing yet another few scenes of excellence that will leave you with a chill down your spine long after the credits roll.

More than warranted as the feature film winner of the British Horror Film Festival 2023 – (as well as the other accolades they’ve won previously elsewhere!) this is a great regional horror that scares with both horrific real life possibilities and the terrifying glimpses into the paranormal.