A year after his pregnant wife was brutally murdered, Chris (Russ Diaper) returns to the hotel that they both owned and ran. Not only is the hotel his home and his business, it is also where his wife's murder at the hands of a psychotic guest took place. It's not surprising, therefore, that Chris is less than certain that he wants to stay and it quickly becomes apparent that the main thing keeping him here is the encouragement bordering on pressure from his brother, Mark (Rami Hilmi), who is keen to see Chris start to rebuild his life.
Not right in the hotel, however, and Chris' initial discomfort at being back starts to give way to the feeling that someone or something else is also living in the building
Spirits of the Fall takes a bit of time to get going, largely because of the very exposition heavy dialogue in the initial scenes. A fair chunk of time is spent early on explaining both the set-up and backstory and, given that the nature of the film is also heavily hinted at, much of this explanation feels both leaden and redundant.
That said, the acting is competent throughout and both of the leads do a good job of maintaining the believability of the two brothers at the centre of this film and the relationship between them. And it's this relationship that provides both the initial impetus of the film and the veracity for the characters' reactions.
Where the film really scores strongly, however, is with its atmosphere. The big old hotel (it certainly feels both big and old) in which the film is set is superbly oppressive and this is expertly enhanced both by the darkly ominous cinematography and the excellently chilling soundtrack. When all of this comes together and it does for most of the running time the film becomes a genuinely gripping experience that really does take on a life of its own.
Although the plot of Spirits of the Fall relies a little too heavily on convenient characters turning up to explain what is going on, this is a competently told ghost story. But to focus overly on the storyline would be to miss the point which is that this is a film that sets out to unnerve its audience and, when it lets rip with the sounds, the sights and the glimpses of things that shouldn't be there, it succeeds spectacularly.
Writer/director, Russ Diaper has a very strong visual sense and an excellent grasp of how to build a genuinely chilling atmosphere. On the strength of this film, he really is a talent to watch out for.
