Director: Steve Lawson
Year: 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Needing to get a job, a man finds work as a clerk in the solitary confinement wing of Alcatraz and begins working on the crew in the facility, and when he discovers unusual happenings and hauntings in the prison tries to understand the situation while avoiding the true threat.
Review:
This was a pretty solid and enjoyable outing. Among the better elements with this one comes from the kind of generally strong starting point that provides this with the kind of strong starting point for the kind of hauntings on display here. The whole starting point here, involving the kind backstory about the island’s history and how it relates to the prison, which goes hand-in-hand with how he gets involved with the prison by needing to take a job there and finding himself out of his element with the culture and environment, gives everything a great touch. Knowing the type of environment the prison is known for, the type of inmates housed there, the idea that he’s shown to be this kind of book-smart figure that doesn’t know his way around a prison, which makes the whole thing start building nicely as we get to see the different interactions involving the supposed supernatural hauntings in the prison affecting him.
Those are accomplished with a solid, if somewhat one-note, style of encounters that are focused more on the building of supposed hauntings based on the history of the prison, compared to what he’s trying to find out. With his research into the intricacies of the job putting him directly in the line of a conspiracy that manages to bring about not just corruption and bribery but a genuinely haunting supernatural haunting taking place in the area when the background on the prison is revealed, leading to some fun moments. As this is kept to a minimum, though, in favor of trying to emphasize the all-too-tedious human counterparts being far more of a menace to be dealt with rather than the supernatural entity no one seems concerned about due to the lack of action in the other sections of the prison, it comes off looking far more low-budget than it really should.
Overview: ***/5
Likable enough for what it is, even with some minor flaws, there are some enjoyable factors to be had with this one, while only being slightly let down by a few big factors to hold it back. Those with an appreciation of this kind of indie fare or who are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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