The Awakening - DVD

Content: England, 1921: After World War I and the Spanish Flu have claimed over 1 million lives in England alone, many seek solace in spirituality, hoping to contact their deceased loved ones and say goodbye. Controversial author Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) doesn't believe in ghosts. She has made it her goal to expose every alleged supernatural apparition and medium as charlatanry - even if the lies actually bring peace to the bereaved. Even when she is asked by Robert Malroy (Dominic West), a teacher at the prestigious Rookford Boarding School in Cumberland, to investigate a mysterious death at the school, Florence is firmly convinced that any alleged supernatural phenomena surrounding a boy's death can be explained quite rationally. In fact, this assumption seems to be confirmed after her arrival at the boarding school. But the longer Florence stays in the old house, the more extremely strange events accumulate, which soon make her doubt her firm convictions...

With The Awakening, director Nick Murphy (Primeval - The Return of the Primeval Monsters) has created an old-fashioned creepy thriller in the best sense of the word, which almost completely dispenses with blood, but can certainly make it freeze in the viewer. This is achieved by a dark basic atmosphere, which is intensified again and again by small goosebump effects. Strange noises in dark walls, distorted faces, ominous shadows - all this embedded in a suspenseful story makes the BBC production a really successful ghost tale, which despite its old-fashioned flair never seems dusty or antiquated boring.

The atmospheric locations in Scotland, where Murphy primarily directed the film, the no less atmospheric set and the engaging camerawork by Eduard Grau (Buried - Lebendig begraben) go a long way to making the film work so well. True, dramaturgically the wheel is not reinvented here. But even though connoisseurs of the subject can get the feeling that they have seen the whole thing before in a similar form, the events in the boarding school never get boring. The only problem that all these successful elements result in is that the audience's expectations for the ending are set relatively high. Considering the really well done first hour, the resolution of the story is only partially convincing. It's not really disappointing, but it's also not really surprising.

However, that aside, The Awakening offers thrilling scary entertainment with good actors and some very effective scare moments. If you like films like The Others or The Woman in Black, you'll get your money's worth here again. For all those who have a desire for a pleasant goosebumps and do not need a large bloodshed for it, absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The sometimes slightly exaggerated contrasts have some small weaknesses in the detail representation as a result. Otherwise, the picture pleases with an atmospheric, slightly undercooked color scheme and decent overall sharpness. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is very subdued for long stretches, but does provide a comforting goosebump every now and then with smaller, well-executed sound effects. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has six interviews (approx. 32 min.) with actors, the director and the producer of the film, as well as uncommented B-Roll footage (approx. 10 min.) and the trailer to offer. While the interviews overall have a high promo feel to them, they do provide the viewer with some interesting information here and there about the making of the film. A bit superficial, but still worth watching!

Conclusion: The Awakening is a very successful old school ghost thriller. Instead of blood and carnage, director Nick Murphy goes for classic goosebump effects, a dark atmosphere and a suspenseful story. Even if the resolution doesn't turn out quite as strong as the rest of the film, this creepy tale can be warmly recommended to fans of genre works like The Others or The Woman in Black. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp