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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
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Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (22) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (5)
This Dublin-set horror rehashes every haunted-house trick in the book.
Injecting explicit imagery into an old-fashioned possession story, writer-director Ivan Kavanagh brandishes his unusual mix of styles right from the beginning.
Over all, the action is too cryptic, and the pedestrian dialogue doesn't help.
Piers McGrail's nuanced, moody cinematography brings out the best in writer-director Ivan Kavanagh's over-mannered but effectively creepy ghost story.
It really was everything I want in a horror film; scary, beautiful, excellent acting, and a storyline that is both simple and imaginative at the same time. This is definitely the kind of film that will be on my mind for quite a while.
The Canal is a hidden gem of a film, demonstrating the type of intelligent horror audiences often say they want yet rarely pay for.
A film that at first seemed worthy of an heir to Lynch, Fincher or Polanski's cinema but ends up bordering on ridicule. [Full review in Spanish]
Rupert Evans' performance as David is alarming in the shift from unassuming and tender husband and father to demonic neurotic and delusional obsessive.
A truly original horror film isn't easy to come by these days... The Canal, isn't the film that's going to change that, but it does have its positives.
A wonderfully shot, cleverly written, and subtly effective horror movie.
The Canal, though reliant on atmospherics and superb sound design, looks and feels more than genre cinema than Kavanagh's earlier, freakier one.
Making the most of its modest attributes and a wrenching central performance by TV regular and Hellboy veteran Rupert Evans, this Irish chiller lurches from unspoken eeriness to outright horror as it plots a familiar paranormal trajectory.
Kavanagh is an excellent director who cares about building a disturbing, eerie atmosphere with a superb cinematography and sound design, and the result is a terrifying movie that could have really become a classic if it weren't for its last ten minutes with such a silly, clichéd twist.
Super Reviewer
This quite a good horror film with an effectively moody and, somewhat, creepy story and a pretty damn excellent ending that will surprise some people. I don't mean surprising in the sense that it gives us a great twist that completely changes the story but I do mean in the sense that you're really not expecting that to happen. I thought the film was good from the start but I think the ending does make the movie better because it gives it a much more disturbing touch, particularly the end result of the manipulation by these "demons". The movie combines ghost story with flashes of fairly violent imagery of what happened in David's house back in 1902. It's also well-written, solidly acted and well-shot. I honestly thought that the usage of the old camera did actually make for a creepier element to some of the scenes where David uses the camera to reveal the 'man' who committed these murders in his house. I do think the movie becomes a little muddled, in a sense, by combining two different ghost stories into one. What does Alice's ghost, David's wife, whom he believes was murdered by the same man who committed the atrocities in his house, have anything to do with the spirit/demon/ghost plaguing David's house. If they did explain what one had to do with the other then I seriously missed it because I cannot comprehend what one has to the with the other. That is, perhaps, the film's only weakness really. I don't wanna say it's a movie that's a scare-a-minute. And it's not even as good as The Babadook was, from an overall perspective, since parts of this reminded me of the aforementioned film. But if you're looking for a more straightforward horror film as compared to The Babadook then this would be the safe bet. Still, in spite of its flaws, I think this is a movie that will surprise a lot of people since there are, generally, lower expectations with horror films than with almost any other genre in existence. This is quite the good movie with a good and creepy ghost story. Perhaps the dialogue could've used some work, but this is a good movie to watch on Netflix.
Director Ivan Kavangh somehow proves once again that he is capable of taking a tired premise, handling it poorly, and yet still somehow manage to churn out quite a good film.
Strange when two very similar movies come out on the same year and both are equally great for very different reasons. The Canal has a lot in common with The Babadook but dealing with very different themes and a very different approach. Whilst Babadook was more traditional on its narrative, giving an ambiguous but flawed ending; The Canal is ambiguous right from the start and gives a conclusion that's too neat and tidy. Still, with lush cinematography and sound design, a very strong but quiet performance from the lead, The Canal is a rather solid entre for Kavanagh's filmography.
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