Blackwood

Director: Adam Wimpenny
Writer: J.S. Hill
Stars: Ed Stoppard, Sophia Myles, Russell Tovey

Blackwood is the kind of tasteful, competent ghost story which would fit in comfortably with the assorted productions being made by the revived Hammer Films. It’s unquestionable well made, features strong performances has an intelligent script. But… but it’s a bit too professional, a bit too ‘clean’. Horror films need a little bit of, well, a bit of grunge to make them distinctive. Blackwood, on the other hand, would work brilliantly as a more stylish than average made-for-TV production but it lacks a little bit of this abrasiveness.

The story follows Ben Marshall (Ed Stoppard), a writer who moves into a sprawling country estate in the middle of nowhere in order to recover from a breakdown (never, it has to be said, a good idea). Accompanying him are his wife Rachel (Sophia Myles) and son Harry (Isaac Andrews), and following in their wake is their charismatic friend Dominic (Greg Wise), who is keen to revive a brief liaison he had with Rachel while Ben was hospitalised. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that the house is haunted: the clock always rings at 4.30 in the morning; pan lids rattle in the kitchen; a child wearing an wooden owl mask prowls the corridors. Ben becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering the reason for these events, and is sure they have something to do with the previous owner, an artist who had painted disturbing pictures and had lived a young family which has disappeared.

Taking its inspiration from The Shining, The Woman in Black and The Others, this is a very watchable and professional production which is well directed by debutante Adam Wimpenny, who should go on to better things. It has a good cast, with Greg Wise being particularly entertaining and there’s some enjoyably hammy support from Russell Tovey and Paul Kaye (although the sub-plot they’re involved with is rather distracting). With its big country house, focus on the atmospheric woods and ‘owl’ iconography it has a lot in common with The Lord of Tears, a less technically proficient film that was made with a much lower budget. The Lord of Tears, though, is a lot more striking and affecting whereas Blackwood is, well… pretty good.