The Canal

2014 • 93 minutes

About this movie

Sitting in an empty theater, a film archivist watches the grainy footage that will be his undoing. David and his wife are perfectly happy—or so he believes. When he finds out the home he shares with his wife and son was the scene of a ghastly turn-of-the-century murder, David dismisses it as ancient history. That is, until the sinister history ripples into the present and casts a shadow over life as he knows it. And when a looming secret shatters his marriage, David can't help but suspect the dark spirits of the house are somehow involved. In his drive to unveil the shadows hidden in the walls, David begins to descend into insanity, threatening the lives of everyone around him.
Through ghastly imagery and a chilling score, Ivan Kavanagh’s The Canal is an Irish ghost story that will leave you with a fear of the dark and a dripping chill down your spine long after the film's conclusion.

Ratings and reviews

Did you like mystery to see this movie Sitting in an empty theater, a film archivist watches the grainy footage that will be his undoing. David and his wife are perfectly happy—or so he believes. When he finds out the home he shares with his wife and son was the scene of a ghastly turn-of-the-century murder, David dismisses it as ancient history. That is, until the sinister history ripples into the present and casts a shadow over life as he knows it. And when a looming secret shatters.

It may not break into any new ground in the horror genre, and it can be hard to see some clichés of the genre play out, that could have been avoided with rational thought. Still, The Canal was created with such absolute care and the ending so completely satisfies, that it's hard to fault the writing and directing, as it was the best way to draw the story to it's conclusion. It's just an all around enjoyable film, visually and audibly, as long as you can appreciate a slower paced psychological theme.

Recently downloaded this. Irish horror flick. A tad slow to start. Psychological horror film that takes you along for a strange ride. Not really scary. It had a few moments that made me jump. And nothing makes me jump. The ending was a pure WTF moment. Highly recommend.