Tales of Ghosts and Demons

Well-made but bizarre animation consisting of what look like silhouettes of paper cutouts, chalk drawings, puppets, and even human actors. It gives a dreamlike quality, or childhood nightmare, and its old-school antiquated simplicity somehow lends well to the Victorian era (1837-1901) ghost stories that are covered here. They include:

1) "Count Magnus" by M. R. James

2) "The Phantom Coach" by Amelia B. Edwards

3) "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" by M. R. James

4) "The Upper Berth" by Francis Marion Crawford

5) "Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance" by M. R. James

6) "The Room in the Tower" by E. F. Benson

7) "The Residence at Whitminster" by M. R. James

If you like the stories of M. R. James, the illustrations of Edward Gorey, or the "Ghost Stories for Christmas" series (I love them), you'll probably like this movie. Its creators have considerable skill and talent and clearly have affection for the source material stories. It's not for everybody, but if you know what you're getting into, you'll probably enjoy this one.