GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOL. 2 (3 x Blu-ray)

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A travelogue writer, Mr Wraxhall, becomes fascinated by the story of Count Magnus, the long-dead founder of a Swedish family who once made a journey to the Holy Land for less than holy reasons. [44] An electronics company looking for a new recording medium discover that ghosts in their research building could inspire the new format they were after. [52] Introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 39 mins total): the director of seven of the BBC's classic A Ghost Story for Christmas episodes discusses his part in the last four instalments he directed Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. The film begins with an almost orgasmic séance being conducted by medium Mrs. Tyson (Sheila Dunn) and her husband (Frank Mills) on behalf of the recently widowed Lady Dattering (Virginia Balfour). Its failure, claim the Tysons, is likely due to the cynicism of Lady Dattering's son Peter (Paul Lavers), who is a scholar of the learned and level-headed Reverend Justin Somerton (Michael Bryant). Somerton is one of those rare film priests that I instantly take a liking to, a no-nonsense pragmatist who agrees to attend the next séance because he is "interested in all forms of the higher silliness" and who smartly exposes the Taylors as frauds. How could you not warm to this man? It's Somerton who tells Peter about the titular Abbot Thomas, a self-proclaimed alchemist who was condemned as a charlatan and who is reputed to have hidden a large quantity of gold coins somewhere in the monastery. In the process of translating a document from Latin, the two men stumble on a clue to the location of this treasure, one that leads to a cryptic message on a stained glass window.

A trailblazer this is not, and it’s never as unsettling or downright scary as the most effective moments in those earlier films. The woodland disturbances are certainly creepy, and the film nearly hits a horror home run with the appearance of a shadowy figure in Fanshawe’s bathroom, a moment whose effectiveness is then undercut by the perceived need to deliver a loud jump-scare. Overall, however, the film delivers the expected goods, and does so, for the most part, in a pleasingly understated manner. Number 13 (2005) (39:01) HD 1080i 1.78:1 detail and color rendering seems the dominant feature of the vastly improved higher resolution upgrade. The first three Ghost Story for Christmas films plus both versions of Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968 and 2010) were remastered from the original film negatives by the BFI and released on Blu-ray disc as Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1 in December 2022. [62] The Stalls of Barchester is the first official entry in what was to become the Ghost Stories for Christmas series and was adapted from M.R. James’s story The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, which was first published as part of the More Ghost Stories collection in 1911. It takes its time to establish its supernatural credentials and is not quite as creepy as the other titles on this disc, but it's still an elegantly executed work with a sprinkling of unsettling sequences, and very effectively sets the style for BBC Christmas ghost stories to come.

The Stone Tape (1972)

Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee ‘The Stalls of Barchester by MR James’ (2000, Eleanor Yule, 30 mins) After a break of several years, this 2005 adaptation of the M.R. James story of the same title was the first film in a sporadic revival of the Ghost Story for Christmas strand. There appears to have been a conscious effort on the part of writer Peter Harness and director Luke Watson to recapture the essence of the early Lawrence Gordon Clark films, and despite the odd distracting burst of hyperactive editing, they come captivatingly close to achieving their aim. Changes are made to James’s original text, notably in the relationship between the lead character and his host, and more especially in the manner in which the story climaxes and concludes, but the core elements of the tale remain the same. The first five films are adaptations of stories from the four books by M. R. James, published between 1904 and 1925. [8] The ghost stories of James, an English mediaeval scholar and Provost of Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, were originally narrated as Christmas entertainments to friends and selected students. [8] [9]

A governess, incarcerated in a mental asylum, tells a doctor of the possession of her two pupils by a former governess and her lover. [56]Whistle and I’ll come to You (2010, 52 mins): John Hurt Stars in this Recent Reinterpretation of MR James’ Chilling tale Clark talks enthusiastically about what clearly remains a fondly remembered film, praising the work of writer Andrew Davies, cinematographer David Whitson and lead players Denholm Elliott and Bernard Lloyd (there's also an interesting titbit about Elliott not having learned his lines). His own analysis of the story, and particularly its subtext, is fascinating, and gives a good indication of why this film feels so thematically strong.

For Christmas 2008 an original three-part ghost story by Mark Gatiss, Crooked House, was produced instead, though Gatiss has cited the original adaptations as a key influence. [50] Sarah Dempster, writing in The Guardian in 2005, noted that "Perhaps the most surprising aspect ... is how little its adaptations ... have dated. They may boast the odd signifier of cheap 1970s telly – outlandish regional vowels, inappropriate eyeliner, a surfeit of depressed oboes – but lurking within their hushed cloisters and glum expanses of deserted coastline is a timelessness at odds with virtually everything written, or broadcast, before or since." [48] An injured RAF Flight Lieutenant suffers from repeated horrific nightmares while recuperating at a remote mansion in Wales. However, he begins to suspect his psychiatrist or aunt may be responsible. [55] Released: 20th November 2023. Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas series was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s and spawned a long tradition of chilling tales, which terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come.

For a good part of its running time it would, I think, be fair to describe The Treasure of Abbot Thomasmore as a detective story than a tale of the supernatural. I'd even go as far as to suggest that the investigative elements are, on the whole, more effectively realised than the ghost story that they only subtly suggest and belatedly give way to. Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmasseries was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s and spawned a long tradition of chilling tales, which terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come. Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee – Number 13 (2000, 30 mins): Ronald Frame's adaptation of MR James's story is brought to life by the horror maestro Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee - Number 13 (2000, 30 mins): Ronald Frame’s adaptation is brought to life by the horror maestro

The BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas are the filmic equivalent of reading a ghost story by a warm fireplace on a cold night. As James' stories tend to do, each film takes its time building atmosphere and progressing the plot, ending with a finale that will send a shiver down the spine. Admittedly, contemporary audiences may find the films a little slow, but anyone with a fondness for ghost stories will find much to love in this ground-breaking 70s series. Denholm (Elliot) was so wonderful in that role, like a tightly coiled spring. There was such tension in the character: he was always only a step away from insanity." Fisher, Mark (15 April 2007). "Bleak and Solemn ..." abstractdynamics.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010 . Retrieved 22 August 2010.I think you are under the impression negatives must be 24fps. This is not the case. The negatives are whatever frame rate they were shot at. We have set standards that most film is/was shot at, but film itself it's just raw strips on a reel until exposed at whatever speed and frame aspect. After a young couple move into a remote country house in the middle of a stone circle workmen disturb an ancient menhir, unleashing a supernatural force. [5] The final two stories were based on original screenplays, one by Clive Exton, who was an experienced television screenwriter, and the other by John Bowen, who was primarily known as a novelist and playwright, [11] [12] but also had extensive television experience, including adapting The Treasure of Abbot Thomas earlier in the series.