The Spell

Imagine ‘Hollyoaks’ with the gloss taken out, a dash of ‘The Exorcist’ put in, plus an increasing amount of spooky-spooky black magic, a couple of bare bottoms and a lead performance to make you cringe. This third feature from Leeds-based film-industry lone gun Owen Carey Jones is a contender for most enjoyably dreadful film of the year as we watch young Jenny (Rebecca Pitkin) deal not only with a troubled home life but a spell cast on her by a bitter foe…

The production values are all over the place and the actors come across like they’ve been taken hostage en masse from the remedial class of a regional drama school. It’s a film to giggle at – and who can keep a straight face as a vicar offers such wise advice as ‘I doubt you are demon-possessed. It’s very rare these days’? Poor Pitkin gives a one-note performance – stroppy – and the script never ceases telling you what you already know, again and again…