[FrightFest 2025]: The Haunting At Jack The Ripper's House
- Russell Bailey
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
A fascinating strand of horror that is emerging are the ones that explore the relationship we have with the artifice of an online life. The likes of Host (2020), #ChadGetstheAxe (2022), and Milk & Serial (2024) have all delved richly into this theme, and into the mix we get The Haunting at Jack the Ripper's House. The film follows a group of paranormal YouTubers who visit the titular abode for their most ambitious investigation yet.
Stephen Staley and Natasha Tosini’s film is at its most interesting when exploring reality vs artifice and characters making choices against their own safety to pursue actions that may lead them to better content. There’s real ambition to The Haunting at Jack the Ripper's House as it mixes forms, blending the footage the team are making with scenes of them setting up their show. On a shoestring budget Staley and Tosini feel like they’re successfully reaching for a film that’s more interesting than your average horror.
In fact, the film most falls down when it attempts to be a straightforward horror film. The film struggles to balance thrills and chills within its narrative and horror fans may find this a frustrating watch. There are moments, particularly in a busy last act, where The Haunting at Jack the Ripper's House reaches for genuinely good frights. But the run time feels drawn out, the meat of the potential supernatural going ons somewhat threadbare. There’s still much to draw in but just don’t expect much horror for most of the running time.
Tosini and Staley also feature in the core ensemble of the film and there are also strong turns from Kelly Rian Sanson, Danielle Scott and Jack Hoy, with our group of YouTubers playing well off each other, managing to not come across as too dislikable.
There’s much to admire about The Haunting at Jack the Ripper's House even if it falters somewhat as a ghost story. But the continuing dialogue prompted by our online life is tapped into effectively here and makes it a far more interesting watch then one might expect from the slightly clumsy title.
3 Screams out of 5
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