Film Review - The Awakening

There has been a rash of supernatural stories with period settings in recent years, with “The Woman in Black” a box office smash just this last February. “The Awakening” contains familiar working parts, carrying a somber tone of torment in a secluded English setting, and while the material doesn’t win points for originality, co-writer/director Nick Murphy captures an immersive atmosphere of frights and paranoia, creating a ghost story with a nice kick and deeply felt emotions. The surface details suggest a banal return to a formulaic haunting, yet “The Awakening,” while imperfect, captures an intensity of gradually eroding conviction that carries the iffy material all the way to the intriguing head-scratcher of an ending. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com