Nov 23, 2023
A Ghost Story for Christmas: A Warning to the Curious (BBC, 1972)
"An Anglo-Saxon crown. No one's ever discovered one before. And I found it."
"Well, you are to be congratulated, Mr. Paxton. And may I ask what you intend to do with it next?"
"I'm going to put it back."
#a warning to the curious#a ghost story for christmas#m. r. james#lawrence gordon clark#single play#horror tv#bbc#1972#peter vaughan#clive swift#john kearney#david cargill#george benson#julian herington#roger milner#gilly fraser#david pugh#cyril appleton#if you were to catch me on another day or having just watched a different entry in the cycle‚ i dare say my answer#might vary; but right now‚ for my money‚ I think this might be the moat genuinely chilling of the og series of ghost stories#a masterclass in Clark's own particular style: always preferring to show and not tell‚ there are long crucial stretches of this#play without dialogue‚ very little wasted in needless exposition or explanation. we see (or rather we almost see; as ever‚ he keeps the#real horror on the periphery‚ just a little far to see everything we both want and dread to see)#what is to be seen and we draw our own conclusions as viewers. a sterling central performance from Vaughan (and part of the real horror#here is that he truly doesn't deserve this experience; he's not a greedy or foolish or selfish man‚ just a desperate one who dearly wants#to make just one great discovery). im glad Swift was brought back as Dr Black‚ he does provide a good audience surrogate and it would#have been fun to keep him for the later films. as in all the plays‚ sound is key and is developed with just as much care and horrible#attention to detail as anything visual. there's an awful dignified but shaken nobility to Vaughan's Paxton as he realises the weight of#what he's done and the potential cost of trying to repair it. a masterpiece of the form and among the very best of the ghost stories#and still retaining some power to spook more than fifty years on; now there's quality filmmaking
