I've seen this twice and it holds up. It is not M.R. James' original story but I think it's better.
John Hurt goes to an almost empty hotel at the misty English coast. Shouldn't that be all you need? He totally brings it of course, he is so much fun to watch and listen to in his dry plaintiveness.
The main criticism against this movie is that "nothing happens". I have a shamefully short attention span but I found it to be quite compelling with its tense, cold atmosphere as it builds up gradually to the real freakiness.
It definitely keeps its cards close to its chest and doesn't do any of the cheesy stuff that you're worried it might do. The restraint and feather touch used here is very refreshing without being pretentious. From the very beginning there is a sense of dread and a gradual build toward being confronted with something namelessly terrible.
One thing that bothered me: at one point John Hurt makes a speech at how dementia is scarier than regular ghosts. As much as I admire the irony, NEVER mention what makes scary so scary in an actual scary movie...but I can forgive that.
This really gets under my skin, both by its command of atmosphere and the uncanny and by its very personal core.
It even manages to have dream sequence without it ruining the mood.
