FrightFest Review: Voice From The Stone (2017)

Set in the 1950's, a nurse is hired to help a young boy who has never spoken since his mother passed away. As she begins to try and help him, she discovers he is hearing voices from the walls...

I love Gothic set or inspired films. I love ghost stories. And both of these are at the forefront of Voice From The Stone...or at least I hoped they were. In truth, it's not really a horror film, though it does have a couple of unsettling moments, including its ending which is a good one, even if it is a predictable one, that some audiences will see coming.

But where the film does score well is its atmosphere. The director, Eric D. Howell does create a suitable atmosphere for the story and as said does create a couple of unsettling moments. He also keeps the ending from getting to overblown, which it could easily have done. He also draws good performances from his cast.

Emilia Clarke, best known for her role in Game Of Thrones plays Verena the nurse. At first she is confident in her abilities to help the boy, Jakob, but gradually realises her own fate lies at the house. Clarke is quite good in the role. There is strong support from Marton Csokas who plays Klaus, Jakob's father and wants help for him. Caterina Murino plays the deceased mother in flashbacks and Lisa Gastoni plays Lilia a woman who stays at the house. Both are good with their limited screen time. But this is a film that rests squarely on the shoulders of Clarke and she holds the film together well.

The script from Andrew Shaw, based on the novel by Silvio Raffo, keeps the mystery at the films heart going well, building to a tense final act, though as I said, if you are paying attention, you can probably see the ending coming.

The film has a suitably eerie setting, an old house in the middle of nowhere, the music is good and the film is well shot. While there is nothing new or original here, there's nothing really wrong at all. It's slow moving but never dull, keeping your attention throughout. It might not be truly scary, but its mystery keeps the film moving along.

It might not be a truly memorable film, but fans of Gothic-inspired melodramas will find something to enjoy here.

I certainly did.

Rating - 3/5