For director Steven M. Smith's first feature film, I was very impressed with how nicely handled this story was played out. The locations are beautiful and the actors are great! Ally (played by Laura Penneycard... who also has some small resemblance's to British actress Kiera Knightley, no joke!) plays a young girl who is an inspiring photographer who happens to be drawn to this old English house she comes upon with a group of friends one day exploring. She then realizes that she has had a connection to this place..through recurring dreams she has been having often. She doesn't know what it all her dreams mean until she meets the ghost who haunts the gardens..named Emmett (played by Geoff Shaw). Emmett, a kind and humble man has been bound to spend his eternity in the gardens..is determined to find his true love that he lost many years ago when living there. Apparently, the ghost of his true love is also roaming the gardens in search of him too! Only Ally holds the secret deep down to where he might find his long lost love, the only thing is, she needs to figure it out. Through the help of the ghost Emmett, Peter the Gardner (played by Colin Bower),and various other characters and clues will she unlock the secret to Emmett's past and the mysterious connection she herself holds. Check this out if you get the chance if you like ghost stories with some mystery, twists, and a love story! The real ghost caught on film also had a sweet cameo!

"A REAL GHOST CAPTURED ON FILM" trumpets the front cover. "WAS IT ONE OF THE STARS AFTER SEEING THE FINISHED PRODUCT, HAUNTING THE SET OF WHAT DROVE HIM TO THE EDGE OUT OF SHAME". I ask. But I kid... Suicide is no laughing matter... so don't do it. There are people who love you, the Samaritans are only a phone call away, it'll take ages for your mum to clean the bathtub... etc. But IF there was a good reason for taking the ultimate step, being part of this... THING must rank somewhere between your family discovering you're a poultry molestor, or that you have all of Shaking' Stevens back catalogue in your collection.

I have to ask... Is this a joke? When they picked these actors, who must rank among some of the WORST I've ever seen (they can't even smile convincingly) was it because they paid into the project, or the casting director had a LOT of extended family members? And as for the dialogue... Jeez. It starts off like a bad episode of Eastenders, then we get the historical flashbacks... And it starts to resemble a REALLY bad Jane Austen adaptation. (Apologies for linking the great lady's name with this tripe). Seriously, if you set up a cringe-o-meter for the lines here, it would be off the scale every 10 seconds.

AHA you might add, it may be a boil on the bum of Satan, a complete disgrace to the film industry and anyone with a brain, but at least it's good for a few unintentional laffs, right? Well... Yes, and no. Yes, in that there are some choice moments here which'll have you rolling in the aisles, but having to tolerate the rest of the crap that is bundled along with it... I don't think so.

I'm thinking back to that supposed spectre "CAPTURED ON FILM", and I have another theory. Could it be... Jeremy Beadle playing a gag on us all from the afterlife? Did the spook have a big bushy beard, and was he carrying a microphone? If it was indeed the prankster himself, than THAT WOULD EXPLAIN EVERYTHING!! Making a fake movie... that must rank as one of his most audacious set-ups yet. Of course... anyone who's watched it would figure it out immediately... NO-ONE would spend money on making something as shoddy as this. Right? RIGHT?! 0/10

Shining a ray of hope for other filmmakers with the 'it can be done' attitude Steven M. Smith has accomplished what little others have; delivering a period drama on a budget.

'Time Of Her Life' is a feature, which in itself is enough to be praised. Furthermore it uses historical locations based in Essex to draw the magnitude of the love tale to our psyches.

The script is forward moving at a pace that allows us to develop affection towards the main character, Alley (played by Laura Penneycard).

The movie clings to the issue at hand, resisting the temptation to bombard it with unrelated issues other young filmmakers might have tendency to include.

Overall, 'Time of Her Life' demonstrates Steven M. Smith harvests an intelligent perspective on emotional issues and will no doubt grow to become one of the UK's leading film-making figures.