Having seen the 1970's TV adaptations of M R James (goodish then; less so now) I was interested to see a couple of the more recent ones. Alas, they managed not only to be as staid as the worst moments of the 1970s ones but so relentlessly unimaginative they do James's ghost stories a real disservice. In 'A View from A Hill', one of James's most chilling stories, the central character explores a haunted hill, site of ancient hangings. In this TV film the director attempts to evoke its morbid atmosphere with serial killer-style subjective camera shots (cf. Black Christmas and a hundred other slashers) and quick-cut half-seen movement - the latter ok for one shot but quickly irritating, rather than frightening. What should have been a creepy sequence is entirely too crude, too literal, and simply doesn't work. I won't belabour the point further - but nothing in the film rises above this level. For those who want to experience a cinema version of M R James's truly creepy slow-burn atmospherics, which no-one has really managed so far, I'd recommend the Italian 'Across the River'. True, it can't supply James's distinctive Englishness, but its central character - a naturalist in search of night-time creatures, using fixed cameras - is a pretty good equivalent to James's peripatetic antiquaries in search of ancient texts. And like in James, the mysterious creatures which haunt abandoned village turn out to be immensely vengeful and vicious.[Note: these remarks exclude Night of the Demon, which although based on a James story, does not reflect the world of his stories - however good it is.]

"A View from a Hill" is a 40-minute live action short film from 2005 and this one is a mix of thriller/horror/drama. It is one of the more recent British movies (Ghost stories for Christmas) based on the work by M.R. James. Director is Luke Watson and the adaptation is by Peter Harness. I cannot say I know any of these or any of the cast members here, but this is probably not the biggest problem. This would be the script. In my opinion the acting would have made for a better film as well and I liked how only very few characters are in the center of it all here. Bit the actual horror elements in the second half of the film were not really to my liking and they really went against the solid build-up against of atmosphere. I personally liked the idea of a stranger in what is a strange new world to him almost and also the small snippets like that they expected him later etc. were okay additions. But it's not enough if the details are strong if the center of it all is weak and forgettable. That's why I five this brief movie a thumbs-down and I only recommend it if you like the much older short stories based on M.R. James works, the ones from the 1970s.

This latter-day entry in the British TV horror series is actually not too bad, though its style is essentially flatter than previous vintage ghost stories. It is yet another M.R. James adaptation which sees a young man staying at an inn who happens upon an old pair of binoculars among the bric-a-brac in a closet; the landlord, knowledgeable of a curse attached to them, attempts to dissuade him from keeping the 'relic' but, as always in such tales, the hero has to find out for himself – and to his ultimate dismay – just what possessing the binoculars entails. In fact, watching through them allows an old cathedral (which has been torn down over the years, possibly in view of its evil influence) to 'materialize'; at first, he is intrigued by this curious occurrence…but it all turns serious very soon when a shadowy figure he notices within the 'scene' begins to move about and is apparently out to get him!

Historian Dr Fanshawe comes to the country home of Squire Richards in order to review the artefacts he is selling off. On his way his luggage falls off his bike and his binoculars break. He borrows those belong to the late father of Richards as the two go for a walk. From the hilltop he believes he can see an abbey but with the naked eye there is nothing. The next day he heads to the spot and finds nothing but ruins, however is there more to the glasses than just magnification? As with other years BBC4 sees in the Christmas period with a season of films that serve as modern versions of the family sitting round the fire telling ghost stories. I have seen one or two of these in the past and decided this year to make more of an effort to see them – after all, one never knows if BBC4 will continue to be protected from tabloids keen to rip it down. The first film of the season I saw was A View From a Hill and it bodes well for the rest of the films if they can be this good.The plot is simple and the film is short but it is a very good idea that uses the common device of having a character stumbling into a mystery that may or may not have claimed the life of the last person who was involved with it. The tone of the film is spot on as it delivers this story with a total lack of answers and never any more than the slightest glimpse of anything that may be a danger. My favourite example of this is a moment where Fanshawe believes he has seen something and flashes back to it; the pause function told me nothing was there but regardless it is still creepy as an effect. While the style is quite old-fashioned, director Watson uses modern camera movements sparingly and wisely – thus we do get "Evil Dead" rushing shots and jump cuts but they are far from overdone and work better for it.Letheren leads the cast well with an innocent "everyman" who guides the audience into the story well as the "eyes". Torrens is quite fun but his performance did come over like the producers wanted to get Hugh Laurie but couldn't afford him post-House. Burke is obvious perhaps but perfectly functional while Linnell is a menacing presence and needs to be no more than that. Delivery from Watson is very effective as he controls what the viewer sees (even letting us see the abbey itself through the excitable glances of Fanshawe) and it is this tone and atmosphere that makes the piece work as well as it does.Overall then a short but effective ghost story that is reassuringly free of cheap shots and gore, delivering a nice sense of creepiness instead.