New Christmas spooky stories
Dec. 24th, 2022 02:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivdunstanOn Thursday night we watched the latest Inside No. 9, "The Bones of St Nicholas". And on Friday night we watched the latest Mark Gatiss A Ghost Story for Christmas, with M.R. James's "Count Magnus".
Of the two the first was by far the more successful for me, with a constantly unsettling feel, and more than a few influences from one of my favourite horror films. All the guest cast were strong, but especially Simon Callow, who was extremely good in his role. Good stuff.
Count Magnus was enjoyable, with a largely Swedish and Finnish cast lending it much authenticity. But the lead character as depicted, played by Jason Watkins, was far too buffoonish throughout, which reduced a lot of the scary atmosphere that should have been there.
Of the two the first was by far the more successful for me, with a constantly unsettling feel, and more than a few influences from one of my favourite horror films. All the guest cast were strong, but especially Simon Callow, who was extremely good in his role. Good stuff.
Count Magnus was enjoyable, with a largely Swedish and Finnish cast lending it much authenticity. But the lead character as depicted, played by Jason Watkins, was far too buffoonish throughout, which reduced a lot of the scary atmosphere that should have been there.