10 Underrated Ghost Story Movies You Need To See

In writer-director Ivan Kavanagh’s The Canal, film archivist David (Rupert Evans) finds himself trapped in an inescapable nightmare when he discovers a film reel which shows his house was previously the site of a brutal murder. Things only get worse when his wife goes missing and he’s made the prime subject for her murder.

However, David suspects that there’s something more supernatural going on, believing that he’s being haunted by the murderer from the film reel.

Kavanagh allows the mystery of this ghostly tale to slowly seep under the audiences’ skin. This is a slow-burn chiller which takes its time to establish its tone, as the prevailing sense of dread gradually closes in. Moreover, the filmmaker keeps the answers a well-guarded secret until the very end, ensuring that viewers never know whether a shadowy figure is behind the killing, or if the spectre is a result of David’s collapsing mental stability.

Containing plenty of heart-pounding sequences (the most effecting being reminiscent of the famous scene from The Ring), audiences will be terrified right until the end of this indie Irish flick. It's only after the horror reaches its crescendo where The Canal's finale transcends into a heartbreaking conclusion.