Friday evening Bookman and I settled in with a bowl of popcorn to watch some “scary.” The “scary” was Shades of Darkness, Disc 1, a television show that appeared in the 1980s. On the disc was three “episodes,” The Lady’s Maid’s Bell, Afterwards, and The Maze.
Having recently read Wharton’s story “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell,” this is the one I was most interested in. Bookman has not read the story so I was curious to see what he thought. The dramatization definitely pushed the story in a particular direction but also left some things unanswered, like what was the ghost of Emma Saxon, the former lady’s maid, after. When it was over, Bookman felt it left him wondering too much. He wanted closure. Since I knew what to expect, I was more bothered that there was less open endedness to the film than there was in the story. Overall we thought the film was fair but lacking in scary.
“Afterwards” is also from an Edith Wharton story. I didn’t know anything about this one. A newly rich American couple buy themselves an English country manor house. They jokingly ask the agent if the house came with a ghost too. The agent said, reluctantly, that yes, it did but an odd one. It seems this particular ghost is not recognized as a ghost until afterwards. This one did give me a little chill because I spent a good part of it trying to figure out who was the ghost. When the ghost does appear and the reason it appears as well as the aftermath, it’s good in a not good ghostly way.
The third episode, “The Maze” is also based on a story this one by C.H.B. Kitchin, an author I have not heard of. In this one a youngish couple moves into the house the woman/wife grew up in. There is a maze in the garden and she forbids her daughter, Daisy, to play in it. But of course Daisy disobeys and she meets a man there. We gradually learn from the mother that she knows who this man is and that he is a ghost, that in life he had met with some accident. But the story was moving so slowly and a little confusedly that we didn’t finish watching it. Perhaps this one would be better on paper.
The evening was not a resounding success. Moderately enjoyable. I suppose this is what you get when the really scary stuff gives you nightmares. I wanted to be scared but not really scared, just creeped out a little but in this case only “Afterwards” came close with its little chill.
Those movies sound all right to me, since I don’t really want to be scared! I’ll take a moderately enjoyable evening over one that gives me nightmares
I’m such a wuss when it comes to scary movies, especially ones with gross-out potential. David & I watched 28 Days Later and I could not even remain on the couch – I was literally running into the other room screeching, then creeping back to peek at the screen. Vaguely creepy is much more to my taste, although I’ve had the same experience as you – sometimes “vaguely creepy” becomes just anemic.
I’m really curious about the film version of The Lady’s Maid’s Bell–I’ll have to see if I can get a copy. I watched The Broken this weekend and was totally freaked out by it. I thought it would be suspenseful, but not outright terrifying, but then I have a low threshhold for scary movies!
I admit I’m with Dorothy! It’s very hard to strike the right balance between scary enough to send a shiver down your spine and scary enough to make sleep with the light on for a week. Have you seen The Others? I’ve got a cheap copy as I heard good things about it, but am afraid of creeping myself out!
Dorothy, heh, I don’t want to be so scared that I have nightmares but just scared enough that I get a little chill down my spine. Is that too much to ask for?
Emily, I used to love the scary movies–Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street–but then I started getting nightmares somewhere around my mid 20′s and it was all over for me and horror movies. Now if something promises to be scary but looks like it might be a good movie, I make Bookman do a pre-screening of it for me and let me know whether or not I can watch it. 28 Days Later failed the pre-screen.
Danielle, okay, now I know to not watch The Broken! I think I am becoming more and more limited to classic “horror” in black and white. I can disassociate much better with that and often it isn’t even scary because the effects are not that realistic.
Litlove, I have not seen The Others. The previews make it look like it might be too scary for my taste. If you get up the nerve to watch it you’ll have to let me know where it falls on the scary scale.