A Review of 'A Warning to the Curious' (1972), from the BBC's 'A Ghost Story for Christmas' Strand

(Review written in Spring, 2017)

(A Ghost Story for Christmas: A Warning to the Curious)

Originally an M.R James ghost story (1925), Lawrence Gordon Clark adapted A Warning to the Curious in 1972. Entailing a search for a haunted Anglo-Saxon crown on the shores of Norfolk, it was transported into a TV film as part of the BBC's 'A Ghost Story for Christmas' series. Instead of showering the protagonist (Peter Vaughan) with fame and riches, the crown only brings him terror and death in a desolate seaside town. After tampering with the object of his desire, it becomes rather clear that a dark force is stuck to Paxton, and that his curiosity has cursed not just him, but us too.

A result of both the films low budget and the directors admiration for 'Hitchcockian' suspense (BFI, 2013), Clark dismisses jump-scares and gore for an equally potent use of setting creating an uneasy atmosphere that creeps deep under the skin, and leaves the audiences thoughts glued to a sense of impending doom. This approach is highlighted in the persistence of long shots that revel in the desolate and empty scenery, as well as presenting the human form as an insignificant blotch in a sprawling canvas. The horror is taken to another level when the ghost is introduced into the scenery, popping up in the mise-en-scene regularly, as well as existing beyond the frame with a creepy cough. Furthermore, Clark embellishes the mood with 'the uncanny', unsettling us with doppelgangers and mysterious sounds.

Like all well-orchestrated Horror films, you will leave the film with a certain sense of dread that momentarily seems to spill over the frame, and into reality.