CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES # 4 - NUMBER 13 (2006)

DIRECTED BY Pier Wilkie

SCREENPLAY BY Justin Hopper based on the short story by M.R. James

STARRING - Greg Wise as Mr Anderson,  Tom Burke as Jenkins,  Paul Freeman as Harrington,  David Burke as Gunton,  Charlotte Comer as Alice Goddard,  Anton Saunders as Hotel Porter.

PLOT - Mr Anderson, a respected academic has been assigned to translate some ancient scriptures for a church.

Anderson stays in an old hotel whilst he is carrying out his work. The room he is renting is number 12. The room next door is number 14. Of number 13 there is no sign. The reason for this ? Superstition - the hotel has never had a room 13.

So why is it that every night room 13 seemingly materialises from nowhere ? What is the secret of the mysterious room and more importantly who - or what - is it's unearthly inhabitant and what does it want with Anderson?....

PERFORMANCES - My main criticism with the previous year's entry in the BBC'S Ghost Story For Christmas series was that the main character was a bit bland. Thankfully it seems that this wasn't to be the start of a trend as all the characters in this film are very well done - interesting, well acted and even quite funny in places. The cast doesn't disappoint in any way this time round.

Greg Wise plays Anderson and he's great fun to watch. Anderson is your typical M.R. James stuffy academic only this time he's ramped up times ten. Anderson is just SO up himself in the early parts of the story - he's arrogant, condescending and also manages to be a total dick to literally EVERYONE he meets within seconds of clasping his eyes on them.

 

Normally having such an unsympathetic main character would risk derailing the film before it starts, afterall you've got to feel a certain amount of empathy for the character being menaced in a ghost story for it to work, but the thing is Wise makes Anderson such an arrogant sod that he actually becomes FUNNY with it. He's just so dry and deadpan that in a weird way you actually end up kind of liking him despite yourself. If this film just consisted of 50 minutes of Greg Wise being an obnoxious arsehole to hotel workers and fellow guests, without a ghost in sight, it would STILL be massively entertaining.

Needless to say (this being an M.R. James story and all) Anderson does get taken down a peg or ten when the ghostly inhabitant of room 13 takes a shine to him and tries to drag him to his doom, but it's a lot of fun seeing him get to that point regardless.

The other main character is Anderson's fellow hotel guest - a travelling salesman called Jenkins (Tom Burke). Jenkins is staying in number 14 and initially Anderson blames him for the noise coming from Number 13 in the middle of the night. Jenkins is the complete polar opposite to Anderson - he's friendly, upbeat, has an eye for the ladies and enjoys getting steamingly drunk most nights (it's this habit that leads Anderson to blame him for the noise). Burke gives a very likeable performance, it's great fun watching him in the early scenes as he's quite clearly enjoying getting up Anderson's nose. 

As the story progresses Anderson and Jenkins are thrown together through adversity as the ghostly activity increases. Jenkins ends up saving Anderson's life when the ghost tries to drag him into room 13. Wise and Burke play off each other really well and basically turn Anderson and Jenkins into a double act. They're a joy to watch together.

The supporting cast are all good too - David Burke (who played the butler, Patten, in the previous year's story) returns, this time playing the hotel manager, he's just as brow beaten as he was in A View From A Hill, you can almost imagine he's playing the same character. Paul Freeman plays a sinister clergyman who seems to be privy to forbidden knowledge, but my favourite supporting character is the hotel porter (Anton Saunders) - he's great, he never says a single word throughout the entire story - he just looks pissed off all the time at Anderson's rudeness. At one point Anderson describes him as "a surly fellow" and he is (he also looks a hell of a lot like Charles Bronson). Another great character in a film chock full of them.

SFX - We don't see much of the actual ghost except for his disembodied shadow on the wall of Anderson's room.

The only other time we see him is when the ghost's hairy, clawed and unnaturally thin hand grabs hold of Anderson and tries to pull him into the room.

It's fairly simple stuff but well done all the same.

VIOLENCE - There's no actual violence shown, just the threat of unspeakable horrors being visited upon your person should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself dragged into that ghostly room...

RATING - I've got a real soft spot for this one. It's not the closest adaptation you'll ever find of James's work but it's slickly done and very entertaining. It's the characters and performances that really make this one worth watching.

5 ghost bedrooms from hell out of 5. Well worth a watch.

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