This horror-thriller occupies the same Victorian shadowlands as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Penny Dreadful; a not-quite-modern epoch, with its zesty mashup of science, religion and spiritualism, retrofuturist tech and plain retro beliefs. It makes an invigorating backdrop for Irish director Stephen Hall’s second feature. But his script isn’t quite sharp enough and – apart from John Rhys-Davies, who goes at his role with his customary fiery traction, and villain Richard Brake, as ever exploiting a face like an open grave – too many of the supporting cast fall into the distinctly ordinary bracket, acting-wise.
We open with the bobbies bursting in on London’s most-wanted serial killer: William Colcott (Brake), about to dispatch another victim in a long string he is apparently offering up in an occult attempt to resurrect his dead wife. Banged up in Bishopsgate prison, he becomes the first British recipient of the electric chair. Postmortem photographer Frederick (Rhys-Davies) and his niece assistant Emma (Elena Delia) are called to record the cadaver. But, already rattled in the dead murderer’s presence, she spots a strange anomaly in one of the prints, which coincides with unholy stirrings inside Bishopsgate’s walls that cause the authorities to preemptively call in Father Matthews (David Pearse).
