Lawrence Gordon-ClarkCritiques

ITV

Another Jackal tale

Originally presented as the 1977 "Ghost Story for Christmas" this is a decent, if unclear, story of possession. A family moves into a new cottage near an ancient stone circle. When workmen attempt to move one of the stones they discover a ritualistically buried skeleton. At the same time the mother begins to bleed uncontrollably. Although it is not wholly clear it seems she is re-living the execution of a witch that was buried under the removed stone. This was the last in the "Ghost Story for Christmas" series directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and the first to utilise a contemporary setting. It bears all the typical Clark hallmarks but unfortunately it is too much of a reworking of reworking of "A Warning to the Curious" to be fully satisfying. The film is overly muddled - it is interesting enough, but on the whole is ineffective.½