Crooked House is set in modern day London where history teacher Ben (Lee Ingleby) has unearthed an old rusted, decaying door knocker that he has taken to a local museum where the curator (co-producer & writer Mark Gatiss) who show's an interest in the knocker says that he believes it came from the infamous now demolished Geap Manor. The curator goes on to say that the Manor has a bad reputation, Ben is intrigued & wants to know more so the curator tells him two ghostly tales all set inside Geap Manor...
The first of the tales is called 'The Wainscoting' set in Georgian times during 1786 as rich businessman Joseph Bloxham (Philip Jackson) moves into the newly refurbished Geap Manor only to start hearing terrifying sounds coming from inside his brand new wood panelling...
Next up to be told is 'Something Old' which is set during 1927 as a swinging costume party takes place in Geap Manor. Young heir to the estate Felix de Momery (Ian Hallard) announces his engagement to the beautiful & young Ruth Sykes (Jennifer Higham), soon after Ruth starts to see a mysterious woman dressed as a bride at the party & soon discovers a dark family secret that threatens both her & Felix...
The curator then turns down the door knocker & Ben leaves. Ben now becomes the center of the third & final story called 'The Knocker' in which the evil legacy of Geap Manor finally catches up with the present...
Originally shown here in the UK over three nights as three separate thirty minute episodes Crooked House has also been edited into a feature long omnibus horror anthology with the three stories running concurrently. However you see Crooked House I suppose it amounts to the same thing, it's a Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972) or The Vault of Horror (1973) style horror anthology show in which three different ghost stories revolving around the same Manor house are told by the curator of a museum in the films linking wraparound segments. Each of the stories is set in a different & distinct time period & to be honest things get off to a poor start with the opening story The Wainscoting set in 1786, this is a forgettable bog standard haunted house story in which the new owner of a property hears ghostly noises & sees the odd ghostly happening before meeting a grim fate. This is pretty clichéd right down to the superstitious locals although I did like the plot revelation that the panelling in Geap Manor was made from wood taken from a set of gallows & the spirits of the men who hanged on it still haunt the wood, it's a potentially neat idea but nothing is done with it & the so-called twist ending in which Bloxham commits suicide by hanging himself is very predictable. Unfortunately things don't really improve with Something Old either, the first twenty odd minutes of this story is a total snooze-fest with the announcement of the engagement, a lot of forgettable dialogue & an odd out-of-place gay sexuality subplot that goes nowhere before a very rushed last ten minutes or so as the script tries to cram in as much exposition as possible about a tragic wedding that still literally haunts the Manor. Again Something Old is very standard stuff & actually feels like a bit of a rip-off of the Amicus horror flick --And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) which also features a newly wed bride being terrorised by an old family curse at an English Manor house. Things improve considerably with the third & final story called The Knocker which is set during the present & involves Ben himself. There are actually one or two creepy moments in this one including a cool Rosemary's Baby (1968) moment. The Knocker actually has a couple of neat twist's & a good ending unlike the previous stories & feels the most horror orientated out of the three. None of the three stories are particularly great with the first two being rather poor but as a whole it's watchable I suppose & there are one or two nice moments to be seen & the final twist isn't too bad to be fair.
The production values are fine, it looks a bit cheap at times & a little bit too staged but it's alright. Unfortunately there's a distinct lack of atmosphere which is a big problem for a supernatural horror anthology like this, there just aren't enough creepy moments in it. There are a few cheap jump moments like when the soundtrack is silent an alarm or telephone suddenly goes off, you know the sort of fake horror film scare that gets annoying. There's also a lack of any gore or violence, despite being shown fairly late at night this could probably pass for a PG rating. The acting is OK from a reasonable cast.
Crooked House as either three separate parts or one big one edited together is nothing more than an average supernatural anthology show/film that didn't do much for me at all. Only the third & final story is worth watching to be honest & a lack of genuine scares, twist's, imagination & gore ultimately sink it without trace.
The first of the tales is called 'The Wainscoting' set in Georgian times during 1786 as rich businessman Joseph Bloxham (Philip Jackson) moves into the newly refurbished Geap Manor only to start hearing terrifying sounds coming from inside his brand new wood panelling...
Next up to be told is 'Something Old' which is set during 1927 as a swinging costume party takes place in Geap Manor. Young heir to the estate Felix de Momery (Ian Hallard) announces his engagement to the beautiful & young Ruth Sykes (Jennifer Higham), soon after Ruth starts to see a mysterious woman dressed as a bride at the party & soon discovers a dark family secret that threatens both her & Felix...
The curator then turns down the door knocker & Ben leaves. Ben now becomes the center of the third & final story called 'The Knocker' in which the evil legacy of Geap Manor finally catches up with the present...
Originally shown here in the UK over three nights as three separate thirty minute episodes Crooked House has also been edited into a feature long omnibus horror anthology with the three stories running concurrently. However you see Crooked House I suppose it amounts to the same thing, it's a Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972) or The Vault of Horror (1973) style horror anthology show in which three different ghost stories revolving around the same Manor house are told by the curator of a museum in the films linking wraparound segments. Each of the stories is set in a different & distinct time period & to be honest things get off to a poor start with the opening story The Wainscoting set in 1786, this is a forgettable bog standard haunted house story in which the new owner of a property hears ghostly noises & sees the odd ghostly happening before meeting a grim fate. This is pretty clichéd right down to the superstitious locals although I did like the plot revelation that the panelling in Geap Manor was made from wood taken from a set of gallows & the spirits of the men who hanged on it still haunt the wood, it's a potentially neat idea but nothing is done with it & the so-called twist ending in which Bloxham commits suicide by hanging himself is very predictable. Unfortunately things don't really improve with Something Old either, the first twenty odd minutes of this story is a total snooze-fest with the announcement of the engagement, a lot of forgettable dialogue & an odd out-of-place gay sexuality subplot that goes nowhere before a very rushed last ten minutes or so as the script tries to cram in as much exposition as possible about a tragic wedding that still literally haunts the Manor. Again Something Old is very standard stuff & actually feels like a bit of a rip-off of the Amicus horror flick --And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) which also features a newly wed bride being terrorised by an old family curse at an English Manor house. Things improve considerably with the third & final story called The Knocker which is set during the present & involves Ben himself. There are actually one or two creepy moments in this one including a cool Rosemary's Baby (1968) moment. The Knocker actually has a couple of neat twist's & a good ending unlike the previous stories & feels the most horror orientated out of the three. None of the three stories are particularly great with the first two being rather poor but as a whole it's watchable I suppose & there are one or two nice moments to be seen & the final twist isn't too bad to be fair.
The production values are fine, it looks a bit cheap at times & a little bit too staged but it's alright. Unfortunately there's a distinct lack of atmosphere which is a big problem for a supernatural horror anthology like this, there just aren't enough creepy moments in it. There are a few cheap jump moments like when the soundtrack is silent an alarm or telephone suddenly goes off, you know the sort of fake horror film scare that gets annoying. There's also a lack of any gore or violence, despite being shown fairly late at night this could probably pass for a PG rating. The acting is OK from a reasonable cast.
Crooked House as either three separate parts or one big one edited together is nothing more than an average supernatural anthology show/film that didn't do much for me at all. Only the third & final story is worth watching to be honest & a lack of genuine scares, twist's, imagination & gore ultimately sink it without trace.