Final Women

The Signalman The 1976 episode of A Ghost Story for Christmas was the first episode not to be based on the work of M.R. James. Instead, The Signalman is based on Charles Dickens's most famous ghost story outside of A Christmas Carol. The episode stars Bernard Lloyd (who would appear as Marley's Ghost in the 1999 A Christmas Carol adaptation with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge) as a traveler who befriends a railway signalman, played by beloved character actor Denholm Elliott (Marcus Brody from the Indiana Jones movies). The signalman tells Lloyd's character (simply billed as "The Traveler" in the credits) about a recurring apparition that appears every time a tragedy is about to occur on the railway. The first time he saw the apparition, a nasty wreck occurred in the nearby tunnel, costing many people their lives. The second time, a woman soon leapt to her death from the train right in front of him. The signalman is concerned because the apparition has recently begu...

From 1971 to 1978, the BBC produced the informally linked A Ghost Story for Christmas series, with one episode airing each year around Christmas time. This year, in keeping with the season, I am issuing a two-part review of this exemplary series, which is worth a watch for any British horror fan. The Stalls of Barchester This first episode, premiering Christmas time of 1971, is adapted from a short story by M.R. James and concerns a cleric of Barchester Cathedral who, after growing tired of waiting for the current Archdeacon to retire or pass of old age, resorts to murder. After he apparently rigs a stairwell to cause the old man a fatal accident, he succeeds in becoming Archdeacon, but in the process also becomes haunted. It begins with him hearing voices in his house when alone at night. Then a large black cat begins stalking him. Eventually creepy hooded figures deliver the deacon to his just rewards. I've seen people complain that this (as well as other episodes of the se...

I recently watched the 1972 Aaron Spelling produced TV movie, Home for the Holidays for the first time. I love to watch Christmas horror movies throughout the season, and this was my first choice for this year, as I have a minor obsession with 1970s TV horror (and also a slightly more minor obsession with the work of Aaron Spelling). Plus this movie features some awesome ladies, including Julie Harris ( The Haunting ), Jessica Walter ( Arrested Development and Archer , here playing a more seriously depressed - but similarly drunk and neurotic - version of her more famous roles), and a very young, fresh faced Sally Field.                                                           The plot of the movie revolves around four sisters (including Walters and Field), who return to their family home to see their estranged dying father (...