The Borderlands, film review: Cynicism, gravitas and inevitable blind terror

(15) Elliot Goldner, 89 mins Starring: Robin Hill, Gordon Kennedy, Aidan McArdle

Low-budget horror films based around found footage began to seem outdated not long after The Blair Witch Project (1999) but this British excursion into the form is surprisingly enjoyable.

It blends sarcastic humour with one or two moments that will give audiences a real jolt.

Vatican investigators are exploring strange goings-on at a remote country church. The local priest thinks that they are evidence of miracles but the investigators suspect either a hoax or something far darker.

There are dutiful nods in the direction of The Omen, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man. The writer-director Elliot Goldner makes inventive use of his West Country settings.

As the heavy-drinking ghostbuster, blustering Scottish comedian Gordon Kennedy (Absolutely) combines cynicism, gravitas and, eventually, the inevitable blind terror.