A Ghost Story for Christmas Part Four

MARTIN'S CLOSE

(2019)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: MEH

 

For anyone assuming that A Ghost Story for Christmas was going to get back on the slow boil and moody aesthetic of its bygone era when returning to M.R. James for the source material, (as opposed to the previous year's contemporary-set original segment The Dead Room), the ruinous tone of Martin's Close will squash those hopes.  This is the program's most overtly comedic episode yet, at least in comparison to everything that came before.  Writer/director Mark Gatiss tries to balance characters taking things seriously while others take them not at all seriously, always in the same scene and always causing a jarring viewing experience.  Elliot Levey's eccentric performance of a judge who cannot stop amusing himself while a young man is on trial for murder, (all while Peter Capaldi melodramatically prosecutes said young man and we infrequently cut to Simon Williams narrating things with a bit of Vincent Price campiness at his disposal), kills any and all atmospheric spookiness.  That is until the finale which drops one eerie showstopper, or at least it would be an eerie showstopper if the rest of the presentation was not so inconsistent.  Gatiss seems to be having fun by turning this into "The Cloak" segment from The House That Dripped Blood, so for anyone who does not mind the misplaced nyuck nyucks, knock yourself out.

 

THE MEZZOTINT

(2021)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: GOOD

 

It took seven episodes in sixteen years for the annual, resurrected A Ghost Story for Christmas program to deliver something that was not undone by its faults.  While 2021's M.R. James adaptation The Mezzotint still does not come close to the 1970s run of the author's reworkings in overall quality, it keeps its Amicus/Hammer camp at arm's length enough to achieve the proper menace that the source material relies on.  Mark Gatiss had been running the show for four entries at this time, and he wisely omits the glaring tonal issues that plagued his other installments while still offering up some throwback popcorn horror vibes, such as a ghoulish monster reveal and a hammed-up performance from Frances Barber.  The premise about a 19th century mezzotint with a mind of its own recalls the celebrated Night Gallery pilot episode, but Gatiss makes some well-suited additions to James' narrative.  These alterations raise the stakes and enhance an inevitable finish where not just Rory Kinnear's typical and scholarly James protagonist grows concerned over the supernatural predicament at hand, but his colleagues do as well, subverting the trope where only our main character is getting spooked while everyone else merely grows concerned for their friend's mental stability.

 

COUNT MAGNUS

(2022)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: MEH

 

While not aggressively goofy, Count Magnus does feature an eccentrically jovial protagonist played by Jason Watkins, one who allows for writer/director Mark Gatiss to keep things more on the popcorn entertainment side, be it of the still ghoulish variety.  This is not a bad thing, as A Ghost Story for Christmas had been cruising in such a lane through its modern incarnation, at least ever since Gatiss took the wheel.  It is just something to come to terms with if one is to engage in these annual spookshow yarns on their own terms while not endlessly comparing them to the stylistically different 1970s incarnations.  On that note, the show's original director Lawrence Gordon Clark had wanted to do this particular yarn during his tenure, but the BBC and their steadfast insistence on spending as little money as possible prevented the location shooting in Sweden.  No matter since this version was shot in England anyway.  Gatiss may love his M.R. James tales as much as he enjoys getting to adapt them in such a format after the BBC's small screen tradition had been retired for decades, but he has both a modern sensibility and an unavoidable itch to wink at the audience along the way.  Embracing such a tactic then, this one is acceptable if not remarkable.

 

LOT NO. 249

(2023)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: GOOD

 

The first A Ghost Story for Christmas segment to be based on a work from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lot No. 249 nevertheless follows the pattern that Mark Gatiss has consistently set for the program ever since the writer/director took it over some years and entries before.  Gatiss is unapologetically making his own Amicus horror shorts with each of these annual throwbacks, yet the tale chosen here was also adapted in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie in a similar vein that mixes schlock and the macabre.  This interpretation sticks to the period setting of Doyle's original, emphasizes the gay subtext, and throws in a reference to Sherlock Holmes because the author apparently can never escape the shadow cast by his most famous creation, even in this case when resurrected Egyptian mummies are concerned.  Said monster looks fantastic, especially considering the fact that this was a typically tight-budgeted BBC production that was allegedly shot in only four days.  Kit Harrington makes a fine protagonist who tries to get to the bottom of and then stop the ghastly shenanigans that are going down at Oxford University, but Freddie Fox wears his villainous intentions on his sleeve in a performance that pushes things into camp terrain.  Even those unfamiliar with the source material will be able to predict every beat before it happens, but it is fine popcorn fodder for those who are not looking for anything wheel-inventing.

 

WOMAN OF STONE

(2024)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: MEH

 

Four years straight brought forth just as many annual A Ghost Story for Christmas installments, the most steady run since the program's 1970s heyday.  Woman of Stone once again steps away from the works of M.R. James, this time adapting Edith Nesbit's 19th century short story "Man-Size in Marble" which writer/director Mark Gatiss has gone on record as stating was the first supernatural tale that he ever read.  It fits the period and throwback agenda for the series, making it a logical addition as opposed to merely a passion project for Gatiss to shoehorn in.  The structure is faulty where Celia Imrie plays Nesbit herself, regaling her fanboy doctor with this particular tale which features yet another character regaling two other people with yet another tale.  Each timeline is bounced back and forth, giving this a disjointed and rushed feel on top of the predictable and macabre outcome.  Gatiss is still presenting these episodes with more tongue-in-cheek glee than any desire, (or ability, if one is to be cynical), to create an intoxicating mood of supernatural suggestion and mounting dread.  Some of his other to-date seven segments are more goofy, but this one is just underwhelming, proving that either some more evocative material or a new approach is needed to elevate these above being merely half-hour time fillers.

A Ghost Story for Christmas Part Three

A VIEW FROM A HILL

(2005)

Dir - Luke Watson

Overall: MEH

 

After over two decades, A Ghost Story for Christmas returns with A View from a Hill.  The long wait for a revival should at least appease fans of the original series in the fact that it seems to pick up where it left off, adopting a still and flashless approach that is heavy on mood and deliberate pacing.  It is also of course an adaptation of another M.R. James tale as most of the 1970's BBC run was, period set and concerning a mild-mannered protagonist whose curiosity in supernatural affairs causes some unwanted shenanigans.  Director Luke Watson seems to have done his homework, offering up the kind of vintage and chilled scares that work on drawn-out dread instead of jumps or busy editing.  First time screenwriter Peter Harness' script throws in some humor early on to make the unhurried presentation go down easier, but regrettably, it fails to unsettle the bones as much as would be preferred.  It is in keeping with the previous James adaptations whereas things wrap up just as they are getting going, but there is not enough meat on this story's bones to warrant the wait.  If in the proper and forgiving mood though, viewers may find that it scratches a nostalgic itch well enough to recommend.

 

NUMBER 13

(2006)

Dir - Pier Wilkie

Overall: MEH

 

Sticking to the traditional one episode per year structure as did the original A Ghost Story for Christmas program, (until they would take sporadic breaks from here on out), Number 13 emerges as another throwback M.R. James adaptation.  Unfortunately though, it is front-to-back poor.  As far as the source material goes, it sticks to James' chosen forte of pitting unassuming scholars up against the supernatural, but director Pier Wilkie adapts an incorrect tone that seems like it is a hurry to get to its embarrassingly executed ghost activity instead of gradually building a foreboding and chill mood.  Modern day horror hacks such as scary music accommodating every would-be spooky scene robs them of the type of nerve-wracking intimacy that was usually achieved for the program.  It also has a doofy tone, where Greg Wise's antagonist is an unlikable smirking fellow and Tom Burke plays his annoying hotel neighbor who drinks and womanizes too much for the former's liking.  Also, the digital production is cheap and has none of the rustic authenticity to match its period setting.  So in other words, it makes one mistake after the other and may ward potential viewers off who were afraid that the modern day relaunch would do everything wrong that it used to do right.

 

WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU

(2010)

Dir - Andy De Emmony

Overall: MEH

 

Officially bringing M.R. James' celebrated "Whistle and I'll Come to You" into the A Ghost Story for Christmas catalog, (the originally broadcasted 1968 adaptation helped inspire the series yet was technically part of the BBC documentary strand Omnibus), this version is significantly tweaked from its source material by screenwriter Neil Cross.  This is hardly a bad thing on paper, since it differentiates itself from its popular counterpart, justifying its existence more than just being a contemporary-set retread of the exact same beats.  Also not a bad thing is John Hurt's wonderful performance as a man who has cared for his invalid wife of many decades, only recently delegating that responsibility to a rest home where he finally has the solitude to contemplate his past, morn for his vegetable-like spouse, and come to terms with the remaining years that he has left.  He chooses to do this in a remote coastline town during the off season of a hotel that he is practically the only occupant of, or so it would seem.  While director Andy De Emmony maintains an exceptional low-key mood that channels the very same tactics used by Lawrence Gordon Clark in the original series, the entire "whistling" angle is gone, leaving just a small series of arbitrary ghost activity to provide a deflating climax.

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH

(2013)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: MEH

The first relaunched A Ghost Story for Christmas installment to be both written and directed by Mark Gatiss, (who has so far handled each duty for the program since), The Tractate Middoth is a mixed bag of sorts.  Another M.R. James adaptation which had been brought to the small screen a handful of times going back to the 1950s, Gatiss "updates" the tale to that very decade, tweaking further elements like new characters and an ending that leaves itself hanging for further malevolence to unfold.  The presentation is too pristine and digital to convey anything besides pedestrian scares, (plus it teeters on having a schlocky tone, especially where David Ryall's portrayal of a cartoonish and cackling grump is concerned), but one can still make out some channeling on Gatiss' part of the original program's director Lawrence Gordon Clark who would cut the sound during the intense bits without reverting to cheap jump scares.  Perhaps due to the compact thirty-six minute running time, this lacks the lingering pacing that enhances the suggestive spookiness in James' source material, another thing that Clark consistently delivered during the show's 1970s run.  It all makes for a glossy yet sterile watch, one that is done with love yet seems to have its tongue in its cheek when it should be taking itself more seriously.

 

THE DEAD ROOM

(2018)

Dir - Mark Gatiss

Overall: MEH

 

After a five year break and taking over the series with the traditional M.R. James reworking "The Tractate Middoth" in 2013, writer/director Mark Gatiss offered up his first original A Ghost Story for Christmas tale with The Dead Room.  Serving as a modern day reworking of the 1978 Irish short film A Child's Voice, the camp element is more pronounced than the program ever allowed in either of its incarnations, as Simon Callow plays a crotchety "back in my day" thespian who has been the bellowing voice of a horror radio program for five decades running.  In between lamenting the good ole days and scoffing at the more self-aware yarns that he is employed to read now, (mirroring the nod and a wink tone maintained by Gatiss himself), Callow also experiences random bouts of unexplained phenomena when back at his old recording studio, all of which points to a dark secret that he has lived with for some time.  Callow's silly protagonist seems to be "on" whether he is channeling his inner-hambone with the digital tape running or conversing with his humoring millennial producer, but this seems to be an intentional choice that puts the tongue in the cheek of the whole affair.  Sadly, the finale and the scare tactics are uninspired tripe, plus the presentation is farther away from the show's roots than ever.  Still, it is a charming attempt at tweaking the formula if one is in the mood for such a thing.

A Ghost Story for Christmas Part Two

THE ASH TREE
(1975)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GOOD

The final M.R. James adaptation done for the A Ghost for Christmas strand was The Ash Tree, yet another included in his 1904 collection Ghost Stories of Antiquary.  It is identically stylized just as the other Lawrence Gordon Clark directed installments were, playing out over virtually no dramatic music whatsoever and slowly becoming more and more otherworldly-centered as it goes on.  The then shortest in the run at only thirty-two minutes, it is one of the few that could benefit from a perhaps tighter screenplay.  Irish playwright David Rudkin's work is certainly decent enough, but it still feeling as if some core information is missing.  The main difference with The Ash Tree comparatively though is not only some brief nudity, but most certainly the finale which is shocking in the best of ways, going for a less subtle, more visually gruesome route than would be expected.  Then as a plus, Ramona II/Miss-Briefly-Tom-Baker Lalla Ward shows up as well.

THE SIGNALMAN
(1976)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GREAT

The first A Ghost Story for Christmas segment to not be based off of an M.R. James work but instead one by Charles Dickens was The Signalman and it is possibly the most thoroughly well-done entry in a ceaseless slew of them.  Essentially using a two person cast, (Denholm Elliott and Bernard Lloyd), Lawrence Gordon Clark once again directs with a calm control, letting each of their exchanges play out deliberately and just as gradually upping the ghostly occurrences until they become appropriately bone-chilling.  The strengths that Clark routinely displays helming such entries in the Ghost Story series cannot be under appreciated as the mood is always impeccably maintained.  Whether working within a thirty-odd minute or near hour format, no moments are either wasted or rushed.  Dickens' story here is particularly strong as it uses respectable if standard motifs of specters behaving in a foreboding nature, (the man did write A Christmas Carol after all).  Done so stylistically well as it is here, few can argue that this is as exceptional of a supernatural horror work that can possibly be done.

STIGMA
(1977)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GOOD

For whatever reason, the BBC decided to change up the formula to their successful A Ghost Story for Christmas strand with the penultimate installment, Stigma.  This was the first one not to be based off of an older literary work as it is instead an original screenplay by Clive Exton.  It is also the first to be explicitly set in modern day and the last that Lawrence Gordon Clark would direct.  While the eerie tone is as in check as ever, (likely due to Clark still being on board, who always handled the material in a deliberate, composed manner), the story is even more ambiguous than usual.  The supernatural forces at play are unquestionable yes, but they all remain off-camera and one could even argue that there are no ghosts at all present for this go-round.  Not that any of this particularly matters at the end of the day as quality is quality and Stigma still delivers as a slow, unearthly horror short, just in a different manner than what was seen before in the series.

THE ICE HOUSE
(1978)
Dir - Derek Lister
Overall: GOOD

Closing out the annual, A Ghost Story for Christmas anthology series was The Ice House, the first to be directed by someone other than Lawrence Gordon Clark, Derek Lister stepping in instead.  Similar to Stigma from the previous year, Ice House is set in modern day and resembles an old fashion ghost story even less than its predecessor.  This one in fact has no ghostly apparitions at all, yet it is still just as puzzlingly spooky and full of curious supernatural occurrences all the same.  It bares more in common with Invasion of the Body Snatchers or even the Batman the Animated Series episode "Eternal Youth" which is a good thing as it certainly warrants plenty of chills, literally in this particular case.  Some may find it too at odds with the previous installments or even too unresolved.  Though Lister does an adequate job, the flow is noticeably less creeping as well.  It is the only such entry that feels a tad rushed, be it only in a minor way.  The Ice House is a minute quality drop if anything and if not the strongest way to close out the strand, it is still a rewarding and challenging one.

A Ghost Story for Christmas Part One

THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER
(1971)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GOOD

A Ghost Story form Christmas was an annual BBC One strand of short films that all aired during the week of Christmas, representing a sort of cinematic version of the tradition of telling such supernatural tales around the holidays. The first official entry to belong to the series, (though other similar works had been done before, most notably 1968's, M.R. James' Whistle and I'll Come for You as part of the Omnibus series), was The Stalls of Barchester, likewise an adaptation of one of M.R. James literary works.  All but one Ghost Story were expertly directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and Barchester is no exception in quality.  Though it perhaps spends a little too leisurely of a time fleshing itself out, (unlike others in the series which were pretty compact), it delivers superbly with hair-raising chills that both spring up in a sudden fashion and other times emerge rather tranquilly.  Some of the other James stories that were later adapted for the program were a bit more engaging, (the main protagonist here is somewhat underwritten, making it difficult to perhaps sympathize with him if we are even supposed to), but there is still a satisfying level of ambiguity where far more is alluded to than not.

A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS
(1972)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GREAT

The second M.R. James reworking done officially for the annual A Ghost Story for Christmas program on BBC One was A Warning to the Curious, which still might be the series' most celebrated along with The Signalman from four years later.  Bringing back The Stalls of Barchester character Dr. Black to perhaps link the two, (though all future entries were presented more as stand-alones), this one also stars Peter Vaughan, (Fanatic, Brazil, Game of Thrones), as the main protagonist Mr. Paxton who was substantially changed from the source material version where he was a much younger man that accidentally stumbles upon what Vaughan's character deliberately seeks out.  Director Lawrence Gordon Clark once again creates a fantastically slow, spooky mood.  The supernatural elements are calmly suggested for most of the running time so that when they do become more blatant, they are positively chilling, nearly making you jump without resembling any moronic "boo scares" tactics in the slightest.  The story may not be equipped with any twists, but it is handled so expertly that the predictability of it is hardly a problem.  This stands as one of the most successfully atmospheric horror films ever made for television.

LOST HEARTS
(1973)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GREAT

Still consistently excellent and questionably the most macabre and actually scary entry in the A Ghost Story for Christmas series was the third of them, Lost Hearts.  It may be because it revolves around a soon-to-be twelve-year old boy cooped up in a weird castle with his exponentially weird, far older cousin who seems to be gleefully obsessed with alchemy, astrology, and Satan knows what else.  Because after all, children getting spooked out of their wits generally seems to resonate most with many a viewer.  On that note, Lost Hearts uses the "creepy kids" horror gimmick better than most and there are a number of wonderful moments here that are borderline terrifying even if they still follow the same kind of ghost story logic of specters doing things that are certainly unnerving yet illogical at the same time.  Irish-born actor and playwright Joseph O'Conor is marvelous as the eccentric Mr. Abney and his childlike buoyancy makes the later plot reveal that much more ghoulish.  Throw in some positively creepy hurdy-gurdy music and long fingernails as well and you really cannot lose.

THE TREASURE OF ABBOT THOMAS
(1974)
Dir - Lawrence Gordon Clark
Overall: GREAT

Another very solid M.R. James adaptation, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas changes around a number of characters from the source material, removing some and adding others as well as switching the location from Germany to England and substantially tweaking the ending.  The latter detail is for the better as the last several minutes here are the strongest and director Lawrence Gordon Clark does marvelous work keeping it perplexingly creepy long after it is all over.  A number of later horror films such as The Church, The Borderlands, and As Above, So Below to name a few bare similarities to the premise here as people unlock ancient messages in search of some sort of hidden reward in or around a church or burial area.  As one of the shorter entries in the A Ghost Story for Christmas series, some may find that Treasure feels a bit rushed while others could argue that it refreshingly trims all of the fat and therefor delivers a more chilling result due to how quickly it is wrapped up.  The latter sentiment is one that is quite difficult to argue with.