Muirhouse

2012 / Director. Tanzeal Rahim.

Myself and friends do ghost tours. We have spent weekends away doing lantern tours of places like Port Arthur and the Aradale Mental Asylum. Most of us are borderline skeptics with a hopeful curiosity. So far we've taken photos, which could suggest a supernatural presence or could also be proven to be technical. Recently we have been contemplating a ghost tour of the Monte Cristo Homestead in New South Wales. Believed to be the most haunted house in Australia, it has a tragic past involving murder, torture and accidental death. I just sat through the new Australian fright flick, Muirhouse. Shot inside the actual Monte Cristo manor, we find ourselves inside the house in the middle of the night with one man who is investigating the paranormal. His crew have left him and so he takes it upon himself to film from one room to the next... and before long he discovers that he's not alone. I really need to stop saying that I dislike "found footage" films because too many are coming along to make me look foolish. Muirhouse is a good one. It's very affective. In fact it makes Paranormal Activity look like Casper. I did have issues with the first 15-20 minutes leading up to the house. Some lame acting and a poorly written set-up were leaving me less than enthused... BUT as soon as we're alone in the house, it gets really good. Director Tanzel Rahim knew what he was doing and his use of the house and it's various rooms is totally affective. He builds the tension wonderfully and scatters the frights randomly to create total uneasiness. You have no idea when a scare is coming and in most cases, you jump out of your skin. Well, I did anyway. Like any ghost film, you need to watch Muirhouse properly... at night time, in total darkness with the volume up. Watching alone is preferable for maximum affect. I often hear people say that they aren't affected by ghost movies but then they concede that they watch them during the day, or with lights on. WTF? Anyway if you're into these paranormal movies then check out Muirhouse. It has it's flaws but for a micro-budget indie film, it is impressive. Hopefully it's the start of a long career of frights from Rahim. 

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