Review of The Stalls of Barchester

The second M.R. James adaptation I have set up for this Halloween marathon emerges a marked improvement on the cerebral and rather uneventful WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU (1968). The horror is still subtly deployed throughout, but it creates the right kind of frisson and a distinct aura of unease (thanks largely to the remote wintry locale, also incorporating the obligatory vast mansion) for this intrinsically low-key and character-driven piece. The setting is a school run by the Church – and, apparently, James had himself toyed with the idea of taking the cloth (and would actually become a teacher, among whose pupils was a certain Christopher Lee!); it involves jealousy and machinations among the staff, particularly when the current Dean 'refuses' to relinquish his position to the ambitious Robert Hardy (later of Hammer's DEMONS OF THE MIND [1972]). After he resorts to murder to obtain his wish, however, he begins to be haunted by the old man – via whispering disembodied voices and manifestations as either a black cat or a caped figure bearing a ghoulish hand with creepy talons! The predictable (but still effective) ironic climax, then, sees Hardy expiring in the exact same fashion as the fate he had planned for his doddering predecessor.