#reception of this new ghost story. I'm very grateful that Gatiss has been able (thus far; he's been quite public about what a struggle it
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Visit Tumblr Blog
Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
Post activity is at the highest at 4:00 pm EDT; notes peak at 10:00 pm EDT.
Text
A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249 (BBC, 2023)
"Well, I've given you my opinion. I stand flat-footed upon the ground and there I must remain. The world is big enough for us; no ghosts need apply."
#a ghost story for christmas#lot no. 249#horror tv#single play#2023#bbc#new tv#arthur conan doyle#mark gatiss#kit harington#freddie fox#colin ryan#john heffernan#andrew horton#jonathan rigby#james swanton#jon dear#blair mowat#watched immediately after having watched the '74 adaptation of The Treasure of Abbot Thomas‚ which I suspect didn't help my#reception of this new ghost story. I'm very grateful that Gatiss has been able (thus far; he's been quite public about what a struggle it#is to secure the funding for this kind of niche project) to keep the xmassy bbc ghost story tradition alive‚ and like any series of self#contained plays or anthology‚ there will always be stronger and weaker efforts. alas.. this is not‚ for me‚ one of the better of the new#batch of festive scares. for one thing‚ it leans strongly into what i would identify as Gatiss' chief weakness in comparison to the#Gordon Clark ghost stories: his commitment to putting the scares onscreen‚ where LGC rightly (imho oc) identified that it's much scarier#when you DON'T see the terrible thing. a captured glance‚ a distant image‚ a blurred something on the periphery and your mind filling#in the blanks; infinitely scarier than Gatiss' insistence on showing the monster‚ even having it roar down the camera‚ attempted jumpscares#that simply don't work like subtle‚ building dread do. i don't want to bag on him‚ but this isn't the strongest story to begin with and#combined with the hammer subtle modern horror sensibility of the direction it all ends up being... a little silly. i was enjoying Kit's#performance but the very ending was just farcical. for me. ymmv of course. i still hope he keeps making these anyway#and this one is pretty campy so it has that going for it. but maybe back to m.r. James next time eh Mark?
48 notes
·
View notes