BFI tells GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS (review)

In one five-disc set, the British Film Institute brings together all nine of the original "Ghost Story for Christmas" adaptations from M.R. James, Charles Dickens, and the two original stories, as well as the 2005 and 2006 revivals, and the 2010 retelling of WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU.  Creepiness abounds in old houses, seaside inns, old abbies, dark train tunnels, even in a bright and beautiful resort or a restored and modernized country cottage.  Denholm Elliot (INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE), Peter Bowles (TO THE MANOR BORN), Robert Hardy (ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL), Clive Swift (KEEPING UP APPEARANCES), Michael Horden (LABYRINTH), and John Hurt (1984) are among the many familiar faces from British film and television to be found in this creepy set.

REVIEW LINK: British Film Institute (UK) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS DVD specs:

• Five DVD set
• Various Aspect Ratios (4:3 and 16:9)
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono and stereo
• Disc One:
• "Whistle and I'll Come to You" (1968 and 2010 versions)
• Jonathan Miller and Christopher Frayling discuss the 1968 version
• Introduction to the 1968 version by horror writer Ramsey Campbell
• MR James' original story read by Neil Brand
• Ramsey Campbell reads his own MR James-inspired story "The Guide"
• Disc Two:
• "The Stalls of Barchester" (1971) and "A Warning to the Curious" (1972)
• Filmed introductions with director Lawrence Gordon Clark
• "Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee" - "The Stalls of Barchester" and "A Warning to the Curious"
• Disc Three:
• "Lost Hearts" (1973), "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" (1974), and "The Ash Tree" (1975)
• Filmed introductions with director Lawrence Gordon Clark
• Disc Four:
• "The Signalman" (1976), "Stigma" (1977), and "The Ice House" (1978)
• Filmed introductions to "The Signalman" and "Stigma" with director Lawrence Gordon Clark
• Disc Five:
• "A View from a Hill" (2005) and "Number 13" (2006)
• "Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee" - "Number 13"
• Liner Notes Booklets