Nerdly » Frightfest London 2025: ‘The Haunting at Jack the Ripper’s House’ Review

29th Aug2025

Frightfest London 2025: ‘The Haunting at Jack the Ripper’s House’ Review

by James Rodrigues

Stars: Natasha Tosini, Stephen Staley, Jack Hoy, Jack Hyde | Written and Directed by Natasha Tosini, Stephen Staley

There was a time when, if you wanted to see people exploring supposedly haunted locations, you would have to tune into Most Haunted on the now-defunct Living channel. Now, anybody can stream their exploration of abandoned buildings for an online audience, something that is reflected in the number of horror films depicting this. Following in the footsteps of Death of a Vlogger, Deadstream, and #ChadGetsTheAxe, FrightFest’s latest slice of influencer horror is The Haunting at Jack the Ripper’s House.

The story follows a group of YouTubers known as the Haunt Hunters, renowned for their ‘ghost hunting’ vlogs. They have also attracted much controversy as viewers repeatedly question whether their paranormal encounters are faked, a statement which is truthful. Determined to silence the sceptics, the group take on their most high-profile encounter yet as they explore the home of Jack the Ripper. However, as they step within the notorious location, the group find they have made a perilous mistake in pursuit of fame and fortune.

With every London edition of FrightFest, the festival offers a First Blood strand, which highlights emerging British talent. Amongst the 2025 alumni is Natasha Tosini and Stephen Staley, a duo who take many roles as co-writers, directors, producers, and stars (the pair also previously starred in Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey II, and FrightFest 2024 feature Cinderella’s Curse).

At the heart of their debut feature is the topic of creative integrity and how it can be compromised in the pursuit of financial gain. The instigator of this is Jake (Jack Hoy), a late addition whose desperation to make money by faking these videos leaves him clashing with the founding member, Richard (Jack Hyde). This is intended to be the emotional crux, as the group find themselves reckoning with what they gave up for their greed, but the execution falls massively short.

Time is largely spent with the characters in their conflict, allowing audiences to understand them before the attempted scares. This is an understandable decision, which feels unfortunate because neither element works. It takes far too long to reach the horror, disregarding genuine tension while opting for cheap tries at jump scares. Let us not even mention the spectre, resembling a dapper Slenderman only to feel like an afterthought. The character work tries selling this group as trapped within something they no longer love, but it is delivered in repetitive ways that grow tiresome as it refuses to scratch beneath the surface.

It is difficult to care about the character drama when there is little reason to see these figures as genuine people. The script constantly brings up elements, such as unrequited love, cheating, and an abusive relationship, yet refuses to engage with any of them. Why should we care about these plot threads when the film does not even try offering baby steps towards resolutions? It is no wonder that some performances feel uneven, as they can only engage so much with such thin material. As a result, The Haunting at Jack the Ripper’s House is less scary than an episode of Teletubbies, and less emotionally driven than an episode of Love Island.