Treat yourself to a few superbly macabre series on BritBox – but beware of a few not so quality tricks, too!
Bedlam
Spooky visuals, ghosts in the machine texts, and an asylum turned into luxury apartments are just the beginning for this 2011 six episode debut starring psychic Theo James (Divergent). Eerie red lighting, ghoulish green ghosts, and security camera phenomena lead to creepy construction, dangerous turrets, vehicular horrors, and spiritual interventions for good or ill. Unfortunately, institution history, adoptions, and three hundred year old family secrets must wait thanks to ghost of the week clichés, coincidence, and stereotypically defined characters focused more on steamy relationships then individuality. In-your-face music heralds soap-esque make outs and dated twenty-something emo chic, and the psychic vision jolts are inadvertently humorous. Instead of building atmospheric immersion, special effects for the viewer’s sake also call attention to themselves when other minimal ghost visuals and distorted camerawork create better unease. Hidden room horrors, tarot cards, and burned evidence focus the finale toppers, however the complete cast revamp for the Second Season makes this feel like an entirely different series. Now nonsensical, scheming yuppies scream about what happened the season prior. Ominous pictures, phantom toys, and recurring ghosts provide decent paranormal encounters for Hugo Speer (The Full Monty) but more time is spent on fetishizing his daughter’s BFF Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians). Easy solutions with no spiritual restitution don’t make viewers care about the weekly residential drama, and it’s tough to continue watching the racist reactions and ham-fisted twists limp to the finish.
The Frankenstein Chronicles
A floater composed of stitched together body parts leads Inspector Sean Bean (Sharpe) to pesky newspaper reporters and literary copycats in this 2015 British series. It’s a dreary 1827 London, and superstitious folk fear emerging science and what happens to body after death. However selling the dead to medical institutions is not criminal under new anatomy laws, and unauthorized doctors run unapproved clinics. Religion versus science abominations layer dialogue, death bed whispers, and prayers while William Blake quotes and Shelley’s text invoke a self-aware Frankenstein meta. Inner turmoil, bowls of entrails, and organ hymns balance precious innocence and amended death. Sunlight is rare amid blustery outdoor scenery and candlelit patinas, and deformed reflections in the mirror parallel the man versus monster themes. Coffins, burial shrouds, crosses, and body bags create morose while early medical gear, ruined abbey laboratories, and dreamlike overlays combine with Bach cues to accent the macabre drama and literary gravitas. The 2017 six episode second season picks up three years later with gruesome investigations, mad machinations, and 1830 Bedlam catatonic. Characters struggle with the previous experiments and fresh religious dilemmas amid grave robbing schemes, life giving elixirs, and life or death limbo. Sacrifices in the name of science escalate to full on horror as the dead don’t stay deceased. Any peace is quickly ruined by tragedy thanks to tormenting nightmares, ghostly guests, and a foreboding grim reaper silhouette. Communing with lingering spirits conjures superbly haunting visions waxing on forgiveness and monstrous fates. This is a sophisticated, bittersweet parable blending period piece mystery and horror, and it’s a pity there are only two seasons.
The Secret of Crickley Hall
Past screams disturb present dreams while reverse negative titles and eerie music set the cold, isolated mood for this three hour 2006 miniseries adaptation starring sassy daughter Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones). Old décor, creaking stairs, hiding nooks, and divine woodwork make for a lovely manor. However viewers know moving to a spooky old home won’t alleviate the guilt and hysteria of the recent playground abduction. Previous wartime trauma, Blitz orphanage harsh, period fashions, and stiff upper lip severe contrast contemporary family mornings with jump scares in the attic, basement warnings, and potential psychic connections. Handyman David Warner (Wallander) links the two eras, and the parallel storytelling is well balanced. Neither plot intrudes upon the other, and concurrent editing eliminates the need for a research montage or choppy flashbacks. Marital disagreements and ghostly interactions escalate amid historical papers, reluctant mediums, implied nasty, self-aware youths, and familial risks. The scientific man is unconvinced despite his believing wife’s encounters while rival psychics help and hinder– visually mirroring the near black and white patina, shadows, and darkness. The timelines all but merge with mass drownings and multiple gravestones as the current residents reveal all. Although some elements are obvious and not necessarily scary; suggestive water, surprising deaths, evil old ladies, and past meets present impact combine for suspenseful speculation and frightful retribution.
The Small Hand: A Ghost Story
Scottish graveyards, creepy woods, and ominous garden paths pepper this 2019 tale based on the titular novel where an antique book dealer hears child laughter and humming women by the pond. Unfortunately this is very slow to start with scenic water dangers, perilous stairs, and suspicious reflections in the window rare between too much driving to and fro and time wasting minutiae before the creepy real estate inquiry. We tour the manor at length but nothing comes of the weird stains on the ceiling, fire damage, freaky mirrors, video footage, or subsequent eerie dreams. The illicit romance isn’t actually passionate – our married paramour only enjoys the neighborly sneaking around to aggravate her husband when no romantic impetus for our increasingly unlikable book dealer buying the manor would have been better. Living with the supernatural acerbating his past should have been the main plot, and the you-can-read-this-but-not-watch-it tension deflates with too many character detours. Rather than bloody bathtubs and chilling strangulation building spooky momentum, paranormal games delay the details before rushed affairs and hectic fatal encounters. Highway fake outs, a brief exorcism, and ghostly brats with remote control cars make the invisible fighting quite humorous. Suppressed memories of past saucy and violence are obvious to the viewer yet our passive protagonist is unaware what’s haunting him – asking questions of others instead of getting answers from the ghost himself. Flashbacks and a holiday sacrifice don’t appease the spirits, and without true scares or real mystery, there’s little purpose here.
Whitechapel
Upward mobile, obsessive compulsive rookie Detective Inspector Rupert Penry-Jones (MI-5) is newly assigned to the eponymous district for a series of gruesome murders reminiscent of Jack the Ripper in this 2009 debut. The copycat trends are familiar, but the new investigative spins are stimulating enough to carry the suspense alongside quirky characters and self-aware humor. Strobe effects and cliché designs are now dated attempts to look cool, but the ensemble deduction provides thrilling twists. After two three-part seasons, the 2012 third and subsequent fourth seasons change formats – varying in success with six episodes of two-part X-Files-esque cases. Bemusing moments and an uneven focus on historical crimes versus mystical explanations often negate themselves, but poisoned umbrellas and carved symbols suggest espionage and devilish influences may have been behind all our cases. The sabotage and psychic messages come full circle as bizarre suspects and supernatural crimes force the offbeat detectives to overcome their personal and professional demons. Despite the ups and downs, this remains a unique police drama with intriguing details and a spooky atmosphere.
Immerse yourself in something spooky from across the pond tonight!
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Kristin Battestella writes articles, editorials, and reviews for several websites, magazines, and print publications including I Think, Therefore I Review and Search Magazine. Previously a traditionally published author of speculative fiction and the Fate and Fangs vampire novels, Kristin’s DIY Halloween how-tos and Kbatz Krafts articles have been featured at http://HorrorAddicts.net and in two Horror Addicts Guide to Life anthologies. In addition to sewing and @KbatzReviews Youtube vlogs; Kristin can be heard on the Women InSession podcast at http://InSessionFilm.com alongside her written classic film discourse. Kristin is also active in the local author community, having chaired writing events and conferences with the South Jersey Women Authors.