Wrong Move (2010)

-Review by Nic Brown-

WRONG MOVE is the story of Ashley (James Higgins) and his girlfriend Linda (Gemma Cowburn), a young couple of can’t believe the great deal they got on their new home in a small village in Lancashire. Now while Ashley works during the day, Linda is left alone to work on the renovating their house. At first things seem normal, but then Linda starts to feel that she is being watched. She starts seeing things, doors won’t open, and she begins to suspect that their home is haunted.

The unusual activity becomes more intense and Linda finally sees the vision of a young girl covered in bloody wounds. The ghost leads her to photos and an audio diary, then offers an ominous warning that “He’s coming”. Linda recognizes the girl in the photos as the ghost she’s seen and tells Ashley. Not convinced but intrigued by the mystery, Ashley does some research on the history of their home and makes a startling discovery, but will it be too late? After all, he’s coming….

WRONG MOVE is a short film from the folks at Optic Nerve Productions in the U.K. Filmmakers Mark and Tracy Smith have built a reputation for making quality horror and paranormal short films on a shoestring budget and WRONG MOVE is their most ambitious effort to date. Coming in at just a hair under 32 minutes and sporting a budget of about $1500, WRONG MOVE is also the couple’s biggest production to date.

While the story is nothing particularly new, WRONG MOVE is well written and moves at a good pace. Cowburn’s character, Linda, is the feature’s main focus and while her performance is a little stiff at first, she seems to loosen up and get into the role more as the film progresses. The film uses a combination of traditional make-up and digital effects to create convincing supernatural beings. The rural Lancashire village where the film was shot also lends to the atmosphere, as the old buildings provide a good back drop for the paranormal tale.

WRONG MOVE is a spooky supernatural thriller that could easily be expanded from a short to a feature length film. With a good story and higher production values than its budget would suggest, WRONG MOVE shows that Mark and Tracy have found their pace and learned from each short they’ve produced. It is unfortunate that while Hollywood spends millions remaking films, talented independent filmmakers like the Smiths, who turn out entertaining stories on almost no budget, are often overlooked. So if you’d like to see a creepy ghost story check out Tracy Smith’s  WRONG MOVE. It’s a short investment in time for a big return on story.