RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Michael Ledo This is a BBC made for TV mini series. It is a heart felt ghost story. Cam (Elliot Kerley) and his mom Eve (Suranne Jones) have a special relationship in that they share dreams and sometimes thoughts. Eleven months after Cam goes missing the family goes on a retreat to remote Crickley Hall, an old large home that was used as an orphanage for London orphans during WWII.The house if filled with the ghosts of children and the graveyard shows us many died in 1943. The film smartly moves between a plot and subplot that takes place in 1943. It is a slow burner, but keeps you engaged. It is not a scary ghost story. No real horror

David Arnold Usually Mystery Drama/Thrillers like this that are aired on the BBC are slow, boring, drawn out affairs, but this is actually a pretty good mini-series. I mean there's nothing spectacular about it, but it does keep you watching with interest.Also with it being a BBC TV program there's obviously not going to be anything too graphic about it, like blood or very heavy scares so you need to keep that in mind if you decide to watch it as it MAY be a bit disappointing if you were expecting any of that.Be prepared for it being a wee bit slow for the first couple of episodes as well, but it's not a boring kind of slow. It's a slower pace, but it builds everything up pretty nicely for the third and final episode where everything comes to a head.You also have to pay attention to it as well because it jumps back and forth a lot from present time to 1943. I mean it's obvious when it happens but with it being constantly back and forth all the time you do still need to watch closely to follow both the story lines.The series is well played out by the cast, but the character of Eve Caleigh (played by Suranne Jones) did grate on my nerves a bit. I understand she's a mother who wasn't giving up hope of finding her son, even a year on from his disappearance, but some of her actions just rubbed me the wrong way. Douglas Henshall did a fine job playing the part of Augustus Cribben, the uncaring and heartless owner (along with his sister, Magda) of the orphanage, and a person who you never feel any sympathy for.Overall, this is a pretty enjoyable series to watch and one I'd recommend giving a go, especially if you enjoy a bit more of a subtle approach to your Supernatural movies.

robert-temple-1 This is an appalling BBC mini-series, commissioned by the usual oafs and morons there who are overpaid and 'outtacontrol'. The series concerns the savage physical abuse of children by sadists. Really, is there no limit to the perversities shown on the BBC these days? This series should absolutely not have been made. It is offensive and revolting. I will however compliment the performance of the young actress Olivia Cooke, who plays the character Nancy, and hope that she never has to appear in anything as terrible as this series ever again. Some of the casting is however so uninspired that some of the bad talent to be seen in this series was appropriately dumped into this rubbish bin.

Leofwine_draca THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL is a three-part miniseries made by the BBC and broadcast on BBC1 in November 2012. Sadly, like with other recent literary adaptations (GREAT EXPECTATIONS and THE TURN OF THE SCREW for example), this seems to be a missed opportunity, merely going through the motions rather than trying hard to pass as quality drama.I'm a fan of James Herbert, although I haven't read the particular novel this adaptation is based upon, so I can't comment on it. However, this miniseries covers very familiar 'haunted house' territory, jutting between modern-day family woes and a story involving an orphanage in WW2-era Britain.The story fails to work very well because none of the actors seem very convinced in what they're doing. Suranne Jones bags the meatiest role of the grieving mother but I never felt much sympathy for her character's plight, indeed she's rather uninteresting when it comes down to it. The producers try hard to build interest by casting seasoned performers in supporting parts (Donald Sumpter, David Warner, Susan Lynch, GAME OF THRONES' Maisie Williams) but none of them contribute their best work.The three hour running time means that much of the storyline is repetitive; there are only one or two incidents that occur in the 'past' storyline yet the child abuse stuff is repeated over and over again for lengthy stretches; not even a hamming Douglas Henshall can save it. The modern-day stuff is littered with plot holes and the ghostly stuff is silly and slightly twee rather than genuinely haunting.A missed opportunity then - a shame, because once again it could have been great had more care between taken with the quality of the script and performances of the cast.