A View From A Hill

The penultimate entry in the 'Ghost Story for Christmas' BBC series is about, of all things...a bewitched pair of binoculars! A museum curator uses these binoculars to see scenes from the past. Its quite a good idea, although these newer digital instalments, with their sharper image, do lack the fuzziness of the older shot-on-film entries and have a slightly more sterilized feel, while they also seem to be operating on a tighter budget. Still, the basic idea of the piece is distinctive enough.

An archaeologist visits a decaying country estate to survey its artefacts, but the artefacts lead him into a dark history.

Another slice of MR James alienation, where intellectual curiosity attracts the attention of distant, menacing figures and ends in nothing good.

The opening sequence is a little irritating with its slow focuses, but the rapid editing later on in the woods creates good tension. Music keeps the mood bubbling. Actors all excellent, and in the end nothing is explained.

Overall - not the spookiest, but confident enough not to deliver pat answers.

I think those two elements: Ghosts and Archeologists or treasure hunters are the common elements of this anthology folk horror series. If you are a die hard fan of this kind of material, it's OK, but if not, it may become boring after a while. Unless you decide to watch those chain made episodes only from time to time, let's say once a week. But that doesn't remove anything to their efficiency. Each of those tales are more or less scary, chilly, not advised to watch alone in the darkness. And the British touch, thee trademark of this series, always enjoyable to appreciate. This episode is quite good, though not that exceptional. Among ten or twelve of this kind, you'll rapidly forget it.

This adaptation of M.R. James's short story 'A View From A Hill' was first shown on British television in 2005, on the little watched digital channel BBC 4. I saw that it was being repeated again on BBC 4, and decided to give it a go, remembering the BBC's successful 1970's adaptations of other M.R. James stories including 'Whistle And I'll Come To You My Lad' and 'The Signalman'. Though not in the same class as these masterpieces, 'A View From A Hill' is nonetheless an enjoyable and at times suspenseful drama.

A historian arrives in a small rural village to look over the collection of a recently deceased collector of antique artifacts. Whilst out in the countryside, he sees an abbey that has been in ruins for hundreds of years. But what does this have in connection with an old pair of binoculars and a gruesome legend about the ominously named Gallows Hill? And what do the brusque country squire and his servant know about the situation? Whilst not scary in any way, I enjoyed this little production, and had the running time been longer than 40 minutes it could have become a truly great adaptation. As it is, it all feels a little rushed and a bit more exposition to set the mood would have been welcome.

I give it 7 out of 10.

I watched this film when broadcast over Christmas with a keen sense of anticipation, being a long time fan of MR James' stories, and having enjoyed the BBC's previous adaptations of his work. I do have to say I was a little disappointed at the treatment. A View from a Hill is one of my favourite James stories and I have to say the film did not convey the story well. The story was made much darker, presumably with the intent of frightening the viewer, and lost the atmosphere of the original. The original was set in summer and conveyed the season well, whereas the film was set in winter with bare trees in dripping woods. I'm not going to give any details away, but I don't think it measured up to the previous adaptations of James' work, particularly The Stalls of Barchester.