The young librarian's boss was played by Roy Barraclough ex of Coronation Street and who also appeared with Les Dawson in the Cissie and Ada sketches
Oh I didn't miss him.
Don't know why it is so pleasing for me to see these familiar faces.
Downloading it now, best quality I can get it, it was so nice to look at.
i quite liked this drama..however the 'mystery and imagination' drama episode of the tractate middoth back in the 1960s was far more behind the sofa viewing for me plus it was an hour viewing not 35mins,i remember all of the 'mystery and imagination' stories from the 1960s and they was quite scary, the remakes are good but lack the punch of the 'mystery and imagination'series.
"The Tractate Middoth" was good, if not great. The acting and period detail were
fine, but I didn't think Gatiss' direction was that hot. It
raised the occasional chill but wasn't the stuff of nightmares.
The documentary about MRJ afterwards wasn't that insightful
and was much inferior to the previous BBC James
documentary "A Pleasant Terror: The Life and Ghost of M.R. James".
Next year, how about a non-MRJ story? An Algernon Blackwood
or E. Nesbit adaptation might be interesting...
i quite liked this drama..however the 'mystery and imagination' drama episode of the tractate middoth back in the 1960s was far more behind the sofa viewing for me plus it was an hour viewing not 35mins,i remember all of the 'mystery and imagination' stories from the 1960s and they was quite scary, the remakes are good but lack the punch of the 'mystery and imagination'series.
Denholm Elliot as Dracula had me sleeping with the light on for a fortnight.
M.R. James is better read than anything else but as adaptions of his short stories go the comedic aspects (Roy Barraclough and Una Stubbs) of this production worked against the chill factor but I still enjoyed it.
If the BBC feel like airing the 70's adaptations, I wouldn't have a problem watching them.
Not sure what would be a good slot, about 10ish Sunday night BBC 2 or 4 would do nicely.
When the The Tractate Middoth was done in the 60s as an episode of Tales of Mystery and Imagination, it was terrifying; this one wasn't (probably just as well).
i quite liked this drama..however the 'mystery and imagination' drama episode of the tractate middoth back in the 1960s was far more behind the sofa viewing for me plus it was an hour viewing not 35mins,i remember all of the 'mystery and imagination' stories from the 1960s and they was quite scary, the remakes are good but lack the punch of the 'mystery and imagination'series.
I think these must have been my introduction to M.R. James. "Casting The Runes" in that series was utterly terrifying and I've never forgotten it. What a shame the episode is lost.
Well maybe the nation was happy with that as a ghost story 100 years ago but I think they need to put a little more effort in these days.
The story told nothing of relevance of the book or why/how it is cursed.
The book itself is not cursed and it's contents are not relevant, it's simply the one that the uncle chose to hide his will in.
I quite enjoyed this, although it seemed a bit slow to start with. The lead actor (Sacha Dwahan) was good. He was also recently in An Adventure in Time and Space as Waris Hussein. I also thought Charlie Clemmow looked familiar, although I don't recognize her name.
I watched it, I used to love the Ghost Stories for Christmas (I had nightmares for years after watching The Stone Tape, as a teenager), but this one wasn't particularly scary, and I was very surprised when it ended. I had to go read the story to find out if they'd done something different and was most disappointed with to find that, yes, that is how it ends.
I think it was probably a bit gentle for today's audience, it didn't really do suspense very well - on the other hand it seemed short, so I must have been into the story rather than getting bored.
I think The Stone Tape has scared the crap out of everyone who's ever seen it.
MRJ's Casting the Runes is the basis for horror classic "Night of the Demon" which Mark Gatiss never mentioned. A very scary movie somewhat weakened by the producer inserting a rubbish puppet monster against the director's wishes.
MRJ's Casting the Runes is the basis for horror classic "Night of the Demon" which Mark Gatiss never mentioned. A very scary movie somewhat weakened by the producer inserting a rubbish puppet monster against the director's wishes.
I don't buy this. The special effect of the demon is remarkably good for the time and still gives me a little chill even now, a great and elaborate bit of FX work. I'd take those practical effects over a CGI version any day of the week. Given that the majority of the film is slow and realistic, five minutes of demon effects are hardly overkill.
I think The Stone Tape has scared the crap out of everyone who's ever seen it.
MRJ's Casting the Runes is the basis for horror classic "Night of the Demon" which Mark Gatiss never mentioned. A very scary movie somewhat weakened by the producer inserting a rubbish puppet monster against the director's wishes.
I don't buy this. The special effect of the demon is remarkably good for the time and still gives me a little chill even now, a great and elaborate bit of FX work. I'd take those practical effects over a CGI version any day of the week. Given that the majority of the film is slow and realistic, five minutes of demon effects are hardly overkill.
I agree with the other FM, my opinion hasn't changed over the years.
I think it struggles due to the poor ending, no need to see the Demon, bad, bad move.
Shows how much charm the rest of the film has that it overcomes that ending IMO.
I know nothing about FX, it doesn't matter how good it is for the time.
If the build up is right, then we don't need to see anything, our minds will fill in the blanks, ask Hitchcock
Then again, I'm old and I don't watch modern horror films, I prefer old mystery type stuff where things build slowly.
Oh, I fancy a Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or a CBS Mystery Theatre now.
The book itself is not cursed and it's contents are not relevant, it's simply the one that the uncle chose to hide his will in.
I quite enjoyed this, although it seemed a bit slow to start with. The lead actor (Sacha Dwahan) was good. He was also recently in An Adventure in Time and Space as Waris Hussein. I also thought Charlie Clemmow looked familiar, although I don't recognize her name.
I watched it, I used to love the Ghost Stories for Christmas (I had nightmares for years after watching The Stone Tape, as a teenager), but this one wasn't particularly scary, and I was very surprised when it ended. I had to go read the story to find out if they'd done something different and was most disappointed with to find that, yes, that is how it ends.
I think it was probably a bit gentle for today's audience, it didn't really do suspense very well - on the other hand it seemed short, so I must have been into the story rather than getting bored.
That was the thing for me. It didn't really tell anything about how/why things were happening.
It was a pointless half hour.
I don't buy this. The special effect of the demon is remarkably good for the time and still gives me a little chill even now, a great and elaborate bit of FX work. I'd take those practical effects over a CGI version any day of the week. Given that the majority of the film is slow and realistic, five minutes of demon effects are hardly overkill.
Not overkill but unnecessary. Jacques Tourneur directed several Val Lewton horror movies which underplayed the monster and presumably wanted to do the same with Night of the Demon. The producers should have listened to him. It looked better on the poster than it did on the screen.
The demon in The Tractate Middoth looked like it had escaped from a joke shop.
The thing with M R James is that he doesn't spell it out for you. As most of the people posting on this thread know, with James you have to use your imagination.
Which poses the problem that once one person's (the director's) imagination of the story is transferred to the screen/tv, we have to deal with that.
Other later horror writers have suffered in the same way. Stephen King for instance.
But M R James' stories are further hampered by time. We can love the way his characters are reproduced on the screen and the essence of their time, but we cannot identify with them.
I thought The Tractate Middoth was worth watching, but definitely not scary. But I was expecting that.:)
I was very disappointed at the Tractate Middoth. It had lots of style and not much else.
Re. The Stone Tape - that was really great.
Not enough style for me.
The great thing about the classic adaptations of the 1970s (like A Warning To The Curious) was that they were drenched in eerie atmosphere all the way through, thanks to inspired photography and use of sound. In between the manifestations of the ghost The Tractate Middoth was rather bland and humdrum.
The documentary was good but do we really need a third documentary about James? I wish they'd do a documentary about Algernon Blackwood (who had a much more interesting life than James) and adapt some of his stories (which were much more richly atmospheric than those of James).
Not enough style for me.
The great thing about the classic adaptations of the 1970s (like A Warning To The Curious) was that they were drenched in eerie atmosphere all the way through, thanks to inspired photography and use of sound. In between the manifestations of the ghost The Tractate Middoth was rather bland and humdrum.
The documentary was good but do we really need a third documentary about James? I wish they'd do a documentary about Algernon Blackwood (who had a much more interesting life than James) and adapt some of his stories (which were much more richly atmospheric than those of James).
Or a documentary about E F Benson, a contemporary of James. Benson wrote excellent ghost stories but is forever associated with his comedy (and excellent!) Mapp & Lucia novels.
Badly fumbled by Gatiss. The ghost was a great make-up and the sequences with the dust were beautifully photographed and quite eerie but all the rest of it was clunky and surprisingly draggy considering it was only 30 minutes or so. Doesn`t help that Gatiss keeps casting his Dr Who/Sherlock mates either like some kind of rep. company.
The Lost Hearts scared the crap out of me as a child. Years later in was remade and still scared the crap out of me.
lost hearts was quite something to watch as part of the 'mystery and imagination' series..and the later one thats in colour...its a shame that so many episodes have been lost over time of 'mystery and imagination'..i also recall the episode called the 'beckoning shadow'...JESUS!!!!..that was scary..:o
Comments
Oh I didn't miss him.
Don't know why it is so pleasing for me to see these familiar faces.
Downloading it now, best quality I can get it, it was so nice to look at.
fine, but I didn't think Gatiss' direction was that hot. It
raised the occasional chill but wasn't the stuff of nightmares.
The documentary about MRJ afterwards wasn't that insightful
and was much inferior to the previous BBC James
documentary "A Pleasant Terror: The Life and Ghost of M.R. James".
Next year, how about a non-MRJ story? An Algernon Blackwood
or E. Nesbit adaptation might be interesting...
Denholm Elliot as Dracula had me sleeping with the light on for a fortnight.
Yes please!
I think these must have been my introduction to M.R. James. "Casting The Runes" in that series was utterly terrifying and I've never forgotten it. What a shame the episode is lost.
The book itself is not cursed and it's contents are not relevant, it's simply the one that the uncle chose to hide his will in.
I quite enjoyed this, although it seemed a bit slow to start with. The lead actor (Sacha Dwahan) was good. He was also recently in An Adventure in Time and Space as Waris Hussein. I also thought Charlie Clemmow looked familiar, although I don't recognize her name.
I think it was probably a bit gentle for today's audience, it didn't really do suspense very well - on the other hand it seemed short, so I must have been into the story rather than getting bored.
MRJ's Casting the Runes is the basis for horror classic "Night of the Demon" which Mark Gatiss never mentioned. A very scary movie somewhat weakened by the producer inserting a rubbish puppet monster against the director's wishes.
I don't buy this. The special effect of the demon is remarkably good for the time and still gives me a little chill even now, a great and elaborate bit of FX work. I'd take those practical effects over a CGI version any day of the week. Given that the majority of the film is slow and realistic, five minutes of demon effects are hardly overkill.
I haven't seen that - must look out for it.
I agree with the other FM, my opinion hasn't changed over the years.
I think it struggles due to the poor ending, no need to see the Demon, bad, bad move.
Shows how much charm the rest of the film has that it overcomes that ending IMO.
I know nothing about FX, it doesn't matter how good it is for the time.
If the build up is right, then we don't need to see anything, our minds will fill in the blanks, ask Hitchcock
Then again, I'm old and I don't watch modern horror films, I prefer old mystery type stuff where things build slowly.
Oh, I fancy a Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or a CBS Mystery Theatre now.
Re. The Stone Tape - that was really great.
It was a pointless half hour.
Not overkill but unnecessary. Jacques Tourneur directed several Val Lewton horror movies which underplayed the monster and presumably wanted to do the same with Night of the Demon. The producers should have listened to him. It looked better on the poster than it did on the screen.
The demon in The Tractate Middoth looked like it had escaped from a joke shop.
Which poses the problem that once one person's (the director's) imagination of the story is transferred to the screen/tv, we have to deal with that.
Other later horror writers have suffered in the same way. Stephen King for instance.
But M R James' stories are further hampered by time. We can love the way his characters are reproduced on the screen and the essence of their time, but we cannot identify with them.
I thought The Tractate Middoth was worth watching, but definitely not scary. But I was expecting that.:)
The great thing about the classic adaptations of the 1970s (like A Warning To The Curious) was that they were drenched in eerie atmosphere all the way through, thanks to inspired photography and use of sound. In between the manifestations of the ghost The Tractate Middoth was rather bland and humdrum.
The documentary was good but do we really need a third documentary about James? I wish they'd do a documentary about Algernon Blackwood (who had a much more interesting life than James) and adapt some of his stories (which were much more richly atmospheric than those of James).
For me the woman in black I saw as a teen still gives me nightmares
Shame as I am a great fan of a spooky story.
Or a documentary about E F Benson, a contemporary of James. Benson wrote excellent ghost stories but is forever associated with his comedy (and excellent!) Mapp & Lucia novels.