Between 1971 and 1978 the BBC used to dramatise a ghost story every year under the title "A Ghost Story for Christmas". The first five entries in the series were all based upon tales by that great master of the genre, M. R. James, and the sixth was an adaptation of Charles Dickens's "The Signalman". All these had a period setting; "The Ash Tree" was set in the mid eighteenth century, "A Warning to the Curious" in the 1930s and the other four in the Victorian era. The seventh entry, "Stigma", and the eighth, "The Ice House", were both original stories with a modern setting.
Paul, a middle-aged man who has recently separated from his wife, is staying at a health spa in an old manor house in a remote part of the country, run by a brother and sister named Clovis and Jessica. The two are decidedly odd in their manor, and Paul begins to suspect that something sinister may be happening, especially after a masseur named Bob mysteriously disappears. Paul also suspects that these strange occurrences may be connected with an ice house in the grounds of the manor.
"The Ice House" was the only one of the original eight not to be directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, who had moved to ITV. (The director was Derek Lister). It was written by John Bowen, who was also responsible for "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas". It was not well received by the critics when first broadcast on Christmas Day 1978, and their lack of enthusiasm may have been the reason why it was the last film in the original "A Ghost Story for Christmas" series. (The series has been revived in the 21st century, although these more recent films have been shown at odd intervals and the series has not become an annual fixture).
Bowen was previously best known to me as the author of that excellent Play for Today "Robin Redbreast", but "The Ice House" is not in the same class. I can understand why the critics disliked it. To begin with, it does not really belong in the series as it is not a ghost story. No ghost ever appears, and no supernatural explanation is put forward for the strange occurrences. Indeed, no explanation is ever put forward for a lot of the details in the film. Much is made of the two trumpet-shaped flowers, one red and one white, growing on a vine on the ice house, and it is vaguely suggested that these flowers may be connected to Clovis (normally seen dressed in white) and Jessica (dressed in red), but it is never fully explained how they fit into the picture. Clovis states that the two flowers live forever, never dying or producing seeds or fruit, which botanically seems like nonsense.
Nor is any explanation given for the strange noises Paul hears in the night or for the hole (shaped like the trumpet-flowers) which appears in his bedroom window. As for Bob, it is implied that he was murdered by Clovis and Jessica, but no plausible motive is put forward. I would rank "The Ice House", a baffling puzzle without a solution, as the poorest of the original "Ghost Stories for Christmas", well below than the reasonably good "Stigma" or even "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas", the weakest of the five James adaptations. A disappointing end for a series which, at its best, brought us such excellent offerings as "A Warning to the Curious" and "Lost Hearts". 4/10.
Paul, a middle-aged man who has recently separated from his wife, is staying at a health spa in an old manor house in a remote part of the country, run by a brother and sister named Clovis and Jessica. The two are decidedly odd in their manor, and Paul begins to suspect that something sinister may be happening, especially after a masseur named Bob mysteriously disappears. Paul also suspects that these strange occurrences may be connected with an ice house in the grounds of the manor.
"The Ice House" was the only one of the original eight not to be directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, who had moved to ITV. (The director was Derek Lister). It was written by John Bowen, who was also responsible for "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas". It was not well received by the critics when first broadcast on Christmas Day 1978, and their lack of enthusiasm may have been the reason why it was the last film in the original "A Ghost Story for Christmas" series. (The series has been revived in the 21st century, although these more recent films have been shown at odd intervals and the series has not become an annual fixture).
Bowen was previously best known to me as the author of that excellent Play for Today "Robin Redbreast", but "The Ice House" is not in the same class. I can understand why the critics disliked it. To begin with, it does not really belong in the series as it is not a ghost story. No ghost ever appears, and no supernatural explanation is put forward for the strange occurrences. Indeed, no explanation is ever put forward for a lot of the details in the film. Much is made of the two trumpet-shaped flowers, one red and one white, growing on a vine on the ice house, and it is vaguely suggested that these flowers may be connected to Clovis (normally seen dressed in white) and Jessica (dressed in red), but it is never fully explained how they fit into the picture. Clovis states that the two flowers live forever, never dying or producing seeds or fruit, which botanically seems like nonsense.
Nor is any explanation given for the strange noises Paul hears in the night or for the hole (shaped like the trumpet-flowers) which appears in his bedroom window. As for Bob, it is implied that he was murdered by Clovis and Jessica, but no plausible motive is put forward. I would rank "The Ice House", a baffling puzzle without a solution, as the poorest of the original "Ghost Stories for Christmas", well below than the reasonably good "Stigma" or even "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas", the weakest of the five James adaptations. A disappointing end for a series which, at its best, brought us such excellent offerings as "A Warning to the Curious" and "Lost Hearts". 4/10.