While I'm thankful that the BBC have brought back their GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS series for another year, I'm disappointed that this is a fresh, new story rather than an adaptation of a classic tale; there are so many great ones out there. Mark Gatiss is somewhat overexposed these days and he stretches himself too far in directing as well as writing this tale. His direction is cliched, uninteresting and robs the story of any genuine scary moments.
On the plus side, the ghost story referencing is nice and there's some solid acting from Simon Callow as the curmudgeonly lead. Sadly I found that things start falling apart just about when the back story gets explored and the end result is far from thrilling, ending on a shrill note borrowed from the great TALES FROM THE CRYPT.
On the plus side, the ghost story referencing is nice and there's some solid acting from Simon Callow as the curmudgeonly lead. Sadly I found that things start falling apart just about when the back story gets explored and the end result is far from thrilling, ending on a shrill note borrowed from the great TALES FROM THE CRYPT.