User reviews

M.R. James is considered the best ghost short-story teller of all so that all it takes to tell an effective tale is to follow the source and that's just what is done here. Period detail, interior sets, costumes and language are all intact here in this spooky teller of the mysterious room 13 in a small hotel the dark secret behind which flares up into life when an innocent ecclesiastical scholar comes across a secret note in his research. The other-worldly effects aren't overdone, with no great special effects employed to convey the other-worldly visitation, merely some shadow-play, lighting effects and off- camera sound effects, but this is in keeping with the general, unspectacular tenor of the piece, saving the viewer's imagination to do its own work, which is as it should be. My only carp with the story is that in the end-up three parties enter the foreboding Room 13 at once, when any horror scholar will tell you that this should be done by one party acting alone. All of the acting was solid and without histrionics and the neat twist at the end which explained the sudden disappearance of a previous scholar at the same hotel was a good finishing touch.

A visiting scholar lodges at an ancient inn while he trawls the manuscript collection of the local cathedral, only to find a connection that puts him in a deadly bind.

I'm in two minds about this: it elaborates on the original story to give a more joined up drama, but it loses much of the uncanny alienation that is the hallmark of M R James. The protagonist is loaded with characterisation and yet he's unlikeable, his task is given more detail and that sets up plot points that come to fruition later on, and the haunting is more conventional than the original, with a cheesy shadow passing across the unnecessary print of Bosch's painting The Garden Of Earthly Delights - I much prefer the weird shadow dancing cast by the light of the bedroom window in James' story.

It's well acted and well paced, and the post script is satisfying.

Overall - well done, but although the drama is improved it's an adaptation too far for fans of the author.

Academic Anderson comes to a small English cathedral town to authenticate some newly discovered letters that appeared to date back to Cromwell. At night he stays in room 12 of his hotel and by day he works out of the cathedral chambers. One day he discovers a letter from a mysterious figure called Nicholas Franken, while also looking into some shadowy allegations made against a former bishop of the town. As he digs though, he finds more mysterious goings-on exist outside of his letters and historical records.

An atmospheric little ghost story this, based on a short story by MR James. Delivered by BBC4, the film doesn't really deliver all the answers that one would like and modern viewers such as myself might notice that it is not all tied up and resolved at the end in the way that many of our stories now are. However this is a slight point because really the film does much better where we're not sure at all what is going on and are caught up like Anderson in the fear and desire to get to the bottom of things.

It is not particularly scary and again modern viewers who maintain that horror = gore will be left cold by this; however it is very creepy and it produces this very well. The sound design is well engineered to produce gradual noises and sudden silences while the visual effects are restrained and all the better for it. Wise leads the cast well while Freeman and David Burke both provide solid turns as the older figures in the story. I must admit that I didn't really like Tom Burke as Jenkins, but mostly because his character just felt like a red herring for most of the film.

Overall though I found it enjoyable as it got by with its strong sense of atmosphere covering over for the lack of detail and slightly slow pace. Perhaps not the strongest thing that BBC4 were responsible for last year but it is still a quality little chiller for a dark evening on a windy night.

Having just watched a really sub-standard depiction of Casting the Runes, I found this superior to many of the older M.R.James interpretations, except maybe The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral. The acting was excellent and the hotel scenes were a feast for the eyes for lovers of historic buildings and set the mood for a James story. The climactic scenes were truly frightening unlike Oh,Whistle and I'll Come To You,My Lad which were quite laughable.

Suffers in the first 3/4 and over the closing credits from an abysmal, ineffectual score which misses every opportunity to create suspense or a creepy atmosphere. In fact it is so sedate it creates the opposite effect: the air of a mellow British country drama rather than an MR James ghost story.

However, the episode is well redeemed in the last eight or ten minutes, during which it is very creepy, with an effective accompanying score, and rendering in fine fashion the sense of camaraderie and shared goal that characterizes the original story, when the lead characters come together in fear to solve the mystery. Despite the shortcomings of much of the first part of the episode, Number 13 is well worth watching if only for the denouement.

Number 13 is a creepy adaptation of a MR James story.

Greg Wise plays a rather dull and stern scholar, Professor Anderson who is going through some ancient and re-discovered manuscripts at a local cathedral that he has to authenticate.

He is taken aback when the local hotelier wants money in advance as previous guests have disappeared in the night.

As he carries out his research about a local mischievous bishop back in the time of Cromwell, his sleep is disturbed by strange sounds coming from the room 13 even though that room is supposed to not exist.

This is an atmospheric thriller with several scares and jolts.

BBC Four continue their excellent form in drama with an adaptation of this MR James short story. This was a Christmas treat that perhaps continues a new tradition for the channel's Christmas output, after last year's MR James adaptation 'View From A Hill'.

'Number 13' was simple, pleasurable entertainment; delivered in 40 minutes of suspenseful storytelling. The story was simple, with he mystery coming from the fact that room 13 does not exist, but can be heard by Greg Wise, in the lead role.

There was very little to 'Number 13'. It was a short and enjoyable Victorian ghost story, something that should be welcome as an annual fixture for BBC Four.

As a big M.R James fan I am slighty worried about the quality of the two resent BBC4 productions of his work. True it is about time the stories of M.R James were re-told but to be honest these attempts at horror are nothing more than second rate at best.

They are not nearly dark enough for my liking the atmosphere is really non-existent and the ghosts are a real disappointment, I agree one shouldn't see much of the ghost in stories like this but what you do see has to live up to the picture one has in ones imagination and to be honest these weren't even close.

So my advice to you is watch the Laurence Gordon Clark adaptations made in the 70's available through the BFI if you want to see the infinitely more terrifying versions.