It is good to have the Christmas ghost stories back, but sadly, Mark Gatiss' efforts fall well short of the 1970s classics, and The Dead Room is no exception. A big issue is that there is no real story and so the tale just does not really go anywhere. Furthermore, the gradual ghostly build-up (actually stressed as an essential aspect of a successful ghost story in the script) does not really progress in a spooky enough manner. As such, the supernatural pay off is rather predictable and limited in impact. In terms of performances, Simon Callow is as dependable as ever, but his talents needed a stronger and more atmospheric setting and story, and it seems odd to feature an actress of Susan Penhaligon's calibre in a role that could have been just as effectively portrayed by an extra. Ultimately, Mark Gatiss is no M.R. James, and it is a James tale that we need for Christmas 2019.
11 Reviews
Loved the performances, found the story a little flat.
Sleepin_Dragon2 January 2019
Of all the television listings for Christmas 2018, this was the standout, ahead of Dr Who, Click and Collect, ABC Murders etc, but the realisation was in truth a little underwhelming. I will give huge credit to Simon Callow for his acting, Aubrey was a very interesting character, reminded me of his Charles Dickens from Doctor Who. The story was a little underwhelming, a little small, what could have been a spooky, eerie tale, and echo of the past, was actually a slightly plodding, dialogue heavy drama. The fabulous talents of Susan Penhaligon were totally wasted, she could have been anyone. The ending didn't really work, it felt a little too telegraphed.
Gatiss fumbles the ball
Leofwine_draca25 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
While I'm thankful that the BBC have brought back their GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS series for another year, I'm disappointed that this is a fresh, new story rather than an adaptation of a classic tale; there are so many great ones out there. Mark Gatiss is somewhat overexposed these days and he stretches himself too far in directing as well as writing this tale. His direction is cliched, uninteresting and robs the story of any genuine scary moments.
On the plus side, the ghost story referencing is nice and there's some solid acting from Simon Callow as the curmudgeonly lead. Sadly I found that things start falling apart just about when the back story gets explored and the end result is far from thrilling, ending on a shrill note borrowed from the great TALES FROM THE CRYPT.
On the plus side, the ghost story referencing is nice and there's some solid acting from Simon Callow as the curmudgeonly lead. Sadly I found that things start falling apart just about when the back story gets explored and the end result is far from thrilling, ending on a shrill note borrowed from the great TALES FROM THE CRYPT.
The Dead Room
Prismark1024 December 2018
Mark Gatiss delivers a Christmas ghost story with a nod to M R James.
Aubrey Judd (Simon Callow) is recording a ghost story from a new fangled writer that he has a low opinion of. He is doing it at the very studio where he began to narrate his long running horror stories for the radio over 40 years ago.
Things have changed a bit at the studio. Aubrey knows too well of the many changes in broadcasting. As he remarked to the producer that he had to buy his own lunch at an acting job in Casualty.
The producer tells him that the studio is haunted. Aubrey does not believe it. However things get eerie for Aubrey. Memories come flooding back to the long hot summer of 1976. A memory that he has tried to forget concerning an incident by the river with a young man.
Gatiss does well with the low BBC4 budget. Gatiss also mines his knowledge of ghost stories as elements are very familiar here, maybe too familar as it is not very scary.
Gatiss is well served by Simon Callow. Susan Penhaligon makes a rare television appearance but she does not utter a word.
Aubrey Judd (Simon Callow) is recording a ghost story from a new fangled writer that he has a low opinion of. He is doing it at the very studio where he began to narrate his long running horror stories for the radio over 40 years ago.
Things have changed a bit at the studio. Aubrey knows too well of the many changes in broadcasting. As he remarked to the producer that he had to buy his own lunch at an acting job in Casualty.
The producer tells him that the studio is haunted. Aubrey does not believe it. However things get eerie for Aubrey. Memories come flooding back to the long hot summer of 1976. A memory that he has tried to forget concerning an incident by the river with a young man.
Gatiss does well with the low BBC4 budget. Gatiss also mines his knowledge of ghost stories as elements are very familiar here, maybe too familar as it is not very scary.
Gatiss is well served by Simon Callow. Susan Penhaligon makes a rare television appearance but she does not utter a word.
An entertaining and creepy festive tale that fans of A Ghost Story for Christmas should enjoy
dr_clarke_227 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
December 2018 saw A Ghost Story for Christmas return once again, taking another break from M. R. James story adaptations with 'The Dead Room', an original story written and directed by Mark Gatiss and starring Simon Callow.
'The Dead Room' concerns Callow's aging thespian Aubrey Judd who has read ghost stories for a radio program called The Dead Room for four decades. Despite his lengthy career reading supernatural tales, he doesn't believe in ghosts, until he starts hearing strange voices during a recording session. As the half-hour episode unfolds, it becomes apparent that the voice is that a dead young man called Paul who was Aubrey's lover, and who died in tragic circumstances. In keeping with the conventions of A Ghost Story for Christmas however, there is more to it than that, as it turns out that Aubrey could have saved Paul, whose ghost now wants revenge...
Gatiss' script is slightly tongue-in-cheek, with Aubrey stating what a good ghost story should be like, and opining that we should meet the characters in an ordinary way whilst they are chatting about everyday things, which is of course what he and producer Tara are doing (Gatiss also pokes fun at his own Crooked House and has Aubrey name check M. R. James). Unlike the program's James adaptations, it is entirely studio bound and Gatiss seems to have learned a thing or two about directing since he made 'The Tractate Middoth'; 'The Dead Room' is atmospheric but not especially scary, until the final scene when the rotting spectre of Paul takes its final revenge...
Callow is of course excellent, whilst Anjli Mohindra holds her own in such austere acting company as Aubrey's new producer Tara. 'The Dead Room' isn't quite in the same league as Lawrence Gordon Clark's episodes of the nineteen seventies, but it's an entertaining and creepy festive tale that fans of the program should enjoy.
'The Dead Room' concerns Callow's aging thespian Aubrey Judd who has read ghost stories for a radio program called The Dead Room for four decades. Despite his lengthy career reading supernatural tales, he doesn't believe in ghosts, until he starts hearing strange voices during a recording session. As the half-hour episode unfolds, it becomes apparent that the voice is that a dead young man called Paul who was Aubrey's lover, and who died in tragic circumstances. In keeping with the conventions of A Ghost Story for Christmas however, there is more to it than that, as it turns out that Aubrey could have saved Paul, whose ghost now wants revenge...
Gatiss' script is slightly tongue-in-cheek, with Aubrey stating what a good ghost story should be like, and opining that we should meet the characters in an ordinary way whilst they are chatting about everyday things, which is of course what he and producer Tara are doing (Gatiss also pokes fun at his own Crooked House and has Aubrey name check M. R. James). Unlike the program's James adaptations, it is entirely studio bound and Gatiss seems to have learned a thing or two about directing since he made 'The Tractate Middoth'; 'The Dead Room' is atmospheric but not especially scary, until the final scene when the rotting spectre of Paul takes its final revenge...
Callow is of course excellent, whilst Anjli Mohindra holds her own in such austere acting company as Aubrey's new producer Tara. 'The Dead Room' isn't quite in the same league as Lawrence Gordon Clark's episodes of the nineteen seventies, but it's an entertaining and creepy festive tale that fans of the program should enjoy.
How NOT to tell a ghost story.
ismellchips10 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A Ghost Story For Christmas, the classic franchise, and this is the best the BBC can come up with? It would be laborious to define in full detail how disappointing this installment is, and while no episode has ever reached the creepy heights of Jonathan Miller's series progenitor Whistle And I'll Come To You, surely the minimum requirement for any tale should be a chilling/eerie atmosphere.
The Dead Room, sadly, is more like wading through a swamp so banal that its closing cliche somehow becomes the least of its offences. It pretty much amounts to half an hour of talking-heads exposition, and the arch tone of the first third's dialogue, as the lead explains the requirements of an optimum ghost story, is really the film's prime insult given what follows. Aside from this particular kick in the nuts, there are a multitude of sins on display, only some of which are -
Dialogue so on-the-nose and wholly without subtlety or subtext that the characters may as well say 'let me spell this out for you, stupid'. Leaden performances by otherwise fine actors (see: bad dialogue). The most pedestrian editing imaginable. Ill-considered choices of camera composition. A closing moment that you will recall from 692 other films before your eyeballs roll back an entire 180 degrees.
The last point would be insulting enough in itself but by the time you get to the end, if you've made it that far, it really doesn't matter anymore. To care about it would be something like cursing the bruise on your little toe after your leg has been hacked off. For a film that has the gall to explain what makes a good ghost story it does a hell of a job of showing us what doesn't.
The Dead Room, sadly, is more like wading through a swamp so banal that its closing cliche somehow becomes the least of its offences. It pretty much amounts to half an hour of talking-heads exposition, and the arch tone of the first third's dialogue, as the lead explains the requirements of an optimum ghost story, is really the film's prime insult given what follows. Aside from this particular kick in the nuts, there are a multitude of sins on display, only some of which are -
Dialogue so on-the-nose and wholly without subtlety or subtext that the characters may as well say 'let me spell this out for you, stupid'. Leaden performances by otherwise fine actors (see: bad dialogue). The most pedestrian editing imaginable. Ill-considered choices of camera composition. A closing moment that you will recall from 692 other films before your eyeballs roll back an entire 180 degrees.
The last point would be insulting enough in itself but by the time you get to the end, if you've made it that far, it really doesn't matter anymore. To care about it would be something like cursing the bruise on your little toe after your leg has been hacked off. For a film that has the gall to explain what makes a good ghost story it does a hell of a job of showing us what doesn't.
Not good.
greencrest26 December 2018
Whether acting or writing, Gatiss seems keen always to have a crack at muscling in on past broadcasting glories. It's as though he believes his love for many an old show is qualification enough for getting out the karaoke microphone again. Doctor Who, A Ghost Story For Christmas and The Man in Black are all examples of classic melodrama that have been subject to this rather smothering sense of ownership, this compulsive "right to overwrite". However, as The Dead Room shows, inclusion into the club cannot be assumed. Gatiss adds his name to the list whether it's wanted or not, but his work falls far short of those involved in producing his childhood favourites.
The saving grace here is Simon Callow, who is wonderful to watch even when working with material this thin. An unrecognisable Susan Penhaligon provides a memorably eerie turn as the completely silent Joan, her blank stare adding most of the minimal chills in the piece. (Unfortunately nothing is made of this potentially interesting character).
As for the rest, well it's business as usual for a Mark Gatiss script. Interesting premise but poor scripting glossed over with some self-referential self-reverence.
Suddenly "The Ice House" won't be quite so near the bottom of the Ghost Story For Christmas league table any more.
The saving grace here is Simon Callow, who is wonderful to watch even when working with material this thin. An unrecognisable Susan Penhaligon provides a memorably eerie turn as the completely silent Joan, her blank stare adding most of the minimal chills in the piece. (Unfortunately nothing is made of this potentially interesting character).
As for the rest, well it's business as usual for a Mark Gatiss script. Interesting premise but poor scripting glossed over with some self-referential self-reverence.
Suddenly "The Ice House" won't be quite so near the bottom of the Ghost Story For Christmas league table any more.
Lacks effectiveness in almost all departments
Horst_In_Translation7 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"The Dead Room" is a British half-hour horror movie from 2018. This was made for the holiday season and eventually aired on BBC 24th December in the sense of old traditional ghost stories for Christmas that already were a thing decades ago and are having a bit of a revival here. But sadly, if the quality is mediocre like this one we have here, maybe it is best to not revive old traditions. Writer and director is prolific actor and Emmy winner Mark Gatiss and the main character is played by BAFTA nominee Simon Callow, certainly well-known in Britain and I think he is still among the very best this short film has to offer. Unfortunately, the script is not on par. Direction is okay I guess. As for the story, it never creates the tension or horror I would have hoped and the way they included that big scare factor moment near the end is also a bit desperate and cannot save the film. On the contrary, it makes it even weaker. The very colorful dream-like sequence before that (brighter than the entire previous 25 minutes) could have been a highlight, was probably also intended to this way, but it did not work out too well, even if it is probably still among the more memorable components of these slightly under 30 minutes. It is the story of a radio host, per se a somewhat lonely profession given how many people you are serving, and not the worst decision to center the film around this man's profession, also in terms of where the horror is located exactly and how the character's past is involved as well. So it is absolutely not a failure and there are good aspects included. Shame is just that they are not elaborated on properly to bring the necessary quality and also I would have hoped for a little bit more attention to detail overall. At this running time, you have to deliver quickly and this film does not succeed in doing so, if it delivers at all at some point. The lastg 5 minutes are not worth sitting through everything before that and the idea to go for people forgetting how weak this was (not just) early on by making the ending most memorable is always a bit of a cheap one. Go watch something else instead. Thumbs down for this one from me.
The best of Gatiss' Ghost Stories
lwcuthbert23 December 2022
While Gatiss' MR James adaptations don't really capture the required atmosphere for me, this original piece works very well. I love the dialogue (which many people seem not to, perhaps seeing it as veering too far into knowingness) and thought it was an engaging little story. The final image is rather nice too.
Where it falls flat is in the structure and the building of tension. We need more intrigue, more peril. I can forgive this because I still enjoy the dialogue and Aubrey is a lovely character. Well, more lovey than lovely but most entertaining anyhow (Callow wonderful as expected.)
So, not a brilliant creepy ghost story (see this year's Inside No 9 - The Bones of St. Nicholas for an example of such) but still worth a watch.
Where it falls flat is in the structure and the building of tension. We need more intrigue, more peril. I can forgive this because I still enjoy the dialogue and Aubrey is a lovely character. Well, more lovey than lovely but most entertaining anyhow (Callow wonderful as expected.)
So, not a brilliant creepy ghost story (see this year's Inside No 9 - The Bones of St. Nicholas for an example of such) but still worth a watch.
A Dead End
sweginwuhangdai13 December 2019
It's a shame after such a sterling effort to revive the Ghost Stories for Christmas with last year's Tractate Middoth that Mr Gatiss has opted for a story of his own, which quite frankly is a bit of a bore, I'm sure looked great on paper but unfortunately falls flat on its face on tv. Simon Callow is the only real reason for watching the Dead Room as always he us just superb, but there is only so much he can be relied upon to do. Bit of a wasted effort.
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