A Ghost Story for Christmas: 4
Honestly, all religious figures would be better if they had a dab hand in treasure hunting. This is a much more narrative-heavy entry into the series and while, oftentimes, it seems as though Clarke (or rather James) forgets this is a horror piece, it doesn’t negate the engagement I felt watching.
It’s still technically incredible. Manton’s penchant for silence continues to be extraordinarily effective, lending the final moments the gravitas they need as a damning denouement. Elsewhere, even when the scares don’t come as thick or fast as the previous entires, I find myself completely blown away by Lawrence Gordon Clarke’s excellence. Take the seance scene. It’s shot so virtuosically- the top down zoom, the faces reflecting in the bowl, the circular pan between the people around the table- that any short fall in fright is usurped by my breathlessness at the images on the screen.
Side note: There’s something extraordinarily pretty about sunlight reflecting off water in restored film.
A Ghost Story for Christmas: 4
Honestly, all religious figures would be better if they had a dab hand in treasure hunting. This is a much more narrative-heavy entry into the series and while, oftentimes, it seems as though Clarke (or rather James) forgets this is a horror piece, it doesn’t negate the engagement I felt watching.
It’s still technically incredible. Manton’s penchant for silence continues to be extraordinarily effective, lending the final moments the gravitas they need as a damning denouement. Elsewhere, even when the scares don’t come as thick or fast as the previous entires, I find myself completely blown away by Lawrence Gordon Clarke’s excellence. Take the seance scene. It’s shot so virtuosically- the top down zoom, the faces reflecting in the bowl, the circular pan between the people around the table- that any short fall in fright is usurped by my breathlessness at the images on the screen.
Side note: There’s something extraordinarily pretty about sunlight reflecting off water in restored film.
