THEY WAIT IN SHADOWS (2026)

3 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 20th July.

Sisters Ingrid (Jessica Hunt) and Jenny (Meghan Adara). The film opens with them as youngsters playing with an ouija board. Their Dad is less than impressed. We later learn he is abusive towards Ingrid.

Cut to now and their mother has died and the two of them are moving back to their childhood home. Older sister Ingrid is a divorcee. She heads off to the house. She is meeting Jenny there. They plan to make it their own. They have regrets they didn’t visit their Mum as much as they should have. They start to settle in.

That night Ingrid hears a voice plus odd noises and is freaked out. Though like so many films there is an effect on the voice, so it is difficult to discern what is being said. Of course she finds the ouija puck. Ooh spooky.

Plus her younger sister has started sleepwalking again – but she doesn’t remember it.

Returning from a walk the ouija board itself is out – in spite of the fact that supposedly Ingrid destroyed it when they were kids. She throws it in the bin. And it is never seen again – despite it being set up as some kind of important element.

Ingrid has sweaty nightmares. Jenny continues to sleepwalk. There appear to be monsters, demons from their past? Invading their sleep. Are they real or a symptom of trauma from their childhood?

Like all these lower budget outings the acting is inconsistent. Simon Berry I am looking at you. The two leads are fine and their sisterly dialogue feels real much of the time. However, overall it feels a bit domestic. It tries to be sinister and scary, but doesn’t really succeed. It has its moments and is quite gory at times, though it does dip into cheesy territory. As for the ending – it makes no sense!

Steve Kirkham