Twelve-year-old Heather Ann Foster lives in a grim Glasgow tower block with her single mother, Stephanie Buttle. Lizzie is already on the social services at risk list, while Kate has to cope with a violent loan shark, aggressive social services and general squalor. On top of this, the ghastly flat is blighted by poltergeist phenomena.
Convinced they are haunted, Kate appeals to reporter Jason Connery, who sees the storys potential but believes its a hoax to get the family rehoused.
This neat Brit-flick provides a strong contrast with films like The Exorcist, in which visitations bother those too well-off to have other problems. Not only can the family not afford to leave their haunted flat, but they are forced to rely on the manipulative journalist and his semi-cracked parapsychologist or spiritualist.