They Haunt Him review

By Simon Thompson

Director Ria Pavia and writers Dane Morck and Spencer Paysinger’s They Haunt Him is a breezy, charming family horror comedy which manages to successfully avoid the various saccharine cliches of that sub-genre thanks to having just enough adult humour to appeal to older audiences. 

Theo (Alkaio Thiele), Maya (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and Sammy (Thomas Glasgow) are a trio of school-aged aspiring content creators whose skate vlogs receive little attention. Brainstorming what else they could do to go viral, the three of them decide to visit a house in their neighbourhood that is believed to be haunted and film it. Once inside, it turns out the urban myth is true, and the trio are introduced to Wade (Tim Johnson Jr) a socially outgoing ghost who the trio realise could be their ticket to internet fame. 

Usually child acting makes me want to vomit apart from some select cases exceptions such as the child casts of Sleepers, Leon, Paper Moon, City Of God, Son Of Rambo, Once Upon A Time In America, Cinema Paradiso, and Stand By Me. They Haunt Him however has a likeable and talented young cast, that display believable chemistry with one another and handle both the comedic and emotional scenes with equal aplomb. 

As director Ria Pavia’s bright lighting and unobtrusive camera angles are a natural fit for the material. This isn’t to say however, that Pavia only sticks to a conservative shooting style, as throughout the sequence where the characters visit Wade’s house for the first time, Pavia switches to a much more stylised shooting method, for example positioning the camera at a slant when  the characters are walking upstairs to complement the heightened tone of the scene.

At eighteen minutes long this is a well-directed, acted, and written short film that both older kids and adults can enjoy alike. Containing both a group of child actors who can actually act, and a script which avoids going for lowest common denominator cheap gags, this is a short film to be commended.