Harbinger
Harbinger
Harbinger (2026) Shogun Films from Mircle Media, on digital and Blu-Ray in UK from 10th August, USA 11thAugust.
New British horror ‘Harbinger’ takes a sidelong look at the world of the ghost TV genre and deals it a blow it won’t forget. Directed by James Crow (Nightmare on 34th Street)
Julia (Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott-Helloween) is applying for a job in a dress shop, five years after she was the victim of a frenzied attack by her then-boyfriend, Henry Decker (Peter Woodward-Babylon 5) in a remote, rambling house. Plagued by terrible dreams and memories of the incident, Julia tries to restore some semblance of normality to her life in her new, seaside home. Leaving the dress shop, she becomes aware of a man is following her. When she confronts him, he introduces himself as Mike (Gary Webster-Minder) who offers her £50,000 for one day’s work. He is the presenter of ‘Spectre’, a TV show ‘investigating’ strange phenomenon and wants Julia to tell her story about it.
Julia speaks with her mother, Sue, (Carole Ann Ford-Doctor Who) about this, who persuades her this might be a good way of laying an old ghost; the money would come in useful, too. She agrees and goes to meet Mike and his crew of oddballs, including a resident psychic, a scientific investigator of strange occurrences, and a couple whose relationship is on the rocks due to the man’s affair with another woman in the crew. They enter the house, purchased by an unnamed benefactor and still furnished with all manner of satanic bric-a-brac, collected by the notorious Decker.
The discovery of an amusement arcade fortune telling figure, the titular Harbinger, is a smart, original touch and the fate cards it doles out to the cast are illustrated with gruesome glimpses of their futures. The strangulated voice of this clown-clad automaton is provided by Nick Nevern (Rise of the Footsoldier).
Already fazed by mysterious bangs and thumps in this house of hell, and Julia having second thoughts about doing this show, Mike’s insistence that she wears a piece of gruesome jewellery linked closely to Decker puts her in mortal fear and evokes terrible memories in her. We learn that this TV show is a last-ditch attempt by Mike to resurrect his career.
Decker’s murderous spree appears to be continuing in the house. His experiments into satanic magic have resulted in his soul being transferred into the Harbinger figure. Crew members are picked off one by one by the crazed automaton, following revelations about their private lives.
The hackneyed TV ghost show genre arguably deserves the termination Mike’s show has been threatened with. ‘Harbinger’, in spite of its well-worn plot of a returning maniac, is enlivened by the satanically animated fortune telling figure, tapping into modern robo-phobia as well as primal fears, so avoiding becoming merely a routine slasher.
Scenester
23/7/26
