Matthew Macfadyen says he has an open mind about poltergeists

ENFIELD INDEPENDENT
First published Wednesday 22 April 2015 in News
Last updated 04:58 Thursday 23 April 2015



Matthew Macfadyen plays Guy Lyon Playfair, who was sent to the Hodgsons house to investigate what was going on.

What attracted you to the project?

Timothy Spall and Rosie Cavaliero, both of whom I’ve worked with before. I worked with Tim on a Stephen Poliakoff drama called Perfect Strangers, and I did Little Dorrit with Rosie for the BBC. It always comes down to the script, though, which was well-written, fascinating and properly scary.

Were they the sort of scripts you could just rattle through?

 That’s my litmus test, how quickly I can get through them. You know it’s a chore when you think, oh, I could be doing something else right now.

The Enfield Haunting isn’t just a jolty story about a mean poltergeist, either, is it?

No, it’s nuanced and beautifully written. It’s not a documentary, but a dramatic retelling, so there are bits which are teased and pushed in certain directions for the purposes of telling a story. I love everything to do with Maurice and his daughter. If it hadn’t been so delicately handled, it could have been quite naff.

How much did you know about the Hodgson case before you signed on?

I didn’t know anything about it and, stupidly, I didn’t read The House is Haunted, the book by Guy Lyon Playfair that the series is based on. I came straight from Ripper Street on to this and was a bit frazzled. They kindly organised for me to meet the real Guy, though, which was interesting.

What did you make of him?

He’s in his 80s now and absolutely fascinating. It’s always daunting when you play someone who is real, although I’m not doing an impersonation, that’s not the gig. I’m just taking what I fancy. Saying that, I hope Guy isn’t too horrified at what he sees. I’ll have to write a letter of apology. The Hodgsons’ story is very divisive. Some people believe them, others think they made the whole thing up.

What’s your take?

I have an open mind. I think the sensible stance to take in this situation is to be agnostic and go, I just don’t know. I’ve never experienced anything like it, but I know plenty of people who have and they’re not gullible. There was definitely something going on, it’s just unexplained. I’m certainly not in the ‘that’s all cobblers’ camp. That would be very short-sighted.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/12893746.Star_of_The_Enfield_Haunting_Matthew_Macfadyen_says_he_has_an_open_mind_about_poltergeists/

Mark Gatiss: Great Documentary About Ghost Story Writer M.R. James From “Sherlock” Star/Creator

PATHEOS.COM
October 25, 2014 by Thomas L. McDonald



Writer/actor Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who, Sherlock, League of Gentlemen) writes and hosts this fine documentary on the greatest ghost story writer of them all: medievalist and Biblical scholar Montague Rhodes James. Special treats include locations from James stories (such as St Bertrand de Comminges, stuffed crocodile and all), a passing shot of a tombstone for “Mrs Mothersole” from his childhood home, some fantastic medieval illumination, and more. I have to give credit to Gatiss (who is himself gay) for exploring James’ sexuality while declining to impose modern ideas of homosexuality. (James is best described as wholly asexual.)

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH

READ MORE HERE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2014/10/great-documentary-about-m-r-james-from-sherlock-starcreator/

Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds: Review for The Woman in Black

REVIEW: The Woman in Black

10:31 PM, Feb 4, 2012 | 3 comments

Written by

Amy Jacobson Kurokawa
The Woman in Black
A review by Jonathan Mumm

In a sense, our young lawyer is on probation. Having lost his wife in childbirth several years before, he has not been able to pull himself from a depression that is having a very deleterious effect on his work. The law firm is offering him one chance to redeem himself: go to the little village of Crythin Gifford it is and the now deserted home of an elderly woman who took her own life. Once there, he is to sort through what promises to be mounds of papers to put her affairs in order.

Kipps is reluctant to leave his young son, but is eager to make good and so he sets off on his journey. When he arrives, however, he finds the villagers not only unreceptive but downright rude and it is only with some difficulty that he is able to secure a room for a night at a village inn. On top of that, the local lawyer who is supposed to help him simply gives him a small packet that he claims is all the paperwork Kipps will need before sending him off by carriage to catch the next train.

But Kipps is determined to see the job through and bribes the carriage driver to take him instead to the old mansion. The place gives new meaning to the word isolated. The road that takes you there goes through a boggy marsh along the seashore. It is a road that disappears at certain times of the day and night with the coming of high tide. The mansion itself is a long disused, decaying place, its rooms cluttered with old furnishings, old toys and memories.

There is something unsettled here and before long, our young lawyer has caught glimpses of a severe looking woman, an apparent ghost the locals call "the woman in black." He soon learns the reason they did not want him to stay is that whenever someone sees her, dreadful things occur.

The movie is full of mystery, deep secrets and long moments of Radcliffe walking the hallways of the lonely, old house with a candle or lantern, knowing there is something waiting just around the next corner. Director James Watkins builds the suspense and then ratchets it up, notch by notch. If you're looking to be scared, you won't be disappointed.

Radcliffe is very good as Kipps, Ciaran Hinds a stand out as the one man in the village willing to lend a hand and Janet McTeer equally good as Hinds' mad wife, still despairing over the loss of their son. On a recent television appearance, Radcliffe said The Woman in Black is a perfect date movie because your date will be jumping into your arms. From personal experience I can tell you it works for married couples as well.

Read more:  http://www.news10.net/news/article/176962/37/REVIEW-The-Woman-in-Black
News10/KXTV