Spoilers follow ...
- The Haunting of Radcliffe House review by NP
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Mum, Dad and two daughters arrive in a car, looking over bleak and blasted moorlands at a gloomy Yorkshire mansion. Mum Meg (Olivia Williams) has been hired to renovate the premises; when she promises they’ll have fun there in their new temporary home, the faces on her family say it all. Grizzled dad, artist Alec (Matthew Nodine) is possibly more enthused about the place than anyone; he feels he will accomplish great art there.
The two children achieve a rare and wonderful thing. Troubled and anxious not to be there, they are terrifically convincing and utterly unspoiled. By that, I mean the precocious nature of youngsters in films is entirely absent. Antonia Clarke and Adam Thomas Wright are excellent as Penny and Harper Hamilton: funny, natural, engaging and likeable – subsequently we care when they find themselves in jeopardy. And as this is a solid haunted house mystery, they do, with increasing intensity.
The narrative begins well, bringing forth measured, intriguing scares more than hugely spectacular jump moments. The atmosphere is what is most successfully conveyed – the setting is truly barren, the house is a huge, empty, neglected shell in the midst of some gloriously bleak countryside. It looks truly breath-taking and writer/Director Nick Willing takes full advantage of that.
As it progresses, the story becomes more than a little confusing. Two characters enter the proceedings who are there to explain things a little – first, creepy Charles Kendrick Walker (Stephen Chance) whose origins are enjoyably disconcerting; and secondly, ghost hunter Nigel Lean (Steve Oram), whose appearance is little more than a cameo.
I’m quite fond of stories that don’t answer all the questions, as the uncertainty that places in the mind of the viewer can be perturbing and add to the overall effect. Yet a bit more clarity would have been welcome here, especially in the closing moments. Other than that, this is a well-made, solid ghost story and well worth your time.
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