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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

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The Ash Tree

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1975 Dir. Lawrence Gordon Clark Part of the BBC’s annual series A Ghost Story for Christmas , which ran from 1971 to 1978 and featured some of the small screen’s most chilling moments, The Ash Tree was the last of several MR James adaptations directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. Written for television by David Rudkin, It stars Edward Petherbridge in the dual role of Sir Richard, an 18th century aristocrat who inherits the vast estate of his late uncle, and of Sir Matthew, his 17th century ancestor whose role in local witch trials, and the death of Ann Mothersole (Barbara Ewing), haunts Sir Richard.  With a slim running time (just over 30 minutes) The Ash Tree is one of the shortest entries in the series, but it is also one of the densest. The amount of detail and information packed in, without compromising or diluting the impact of the source material, is admirable. Clarke manages to convey events and flashbacks by utilising an interesting narrative structure and some ...
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Kensal Green Cemetery

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During a recent visit to London, a friend and I decided to explore Kensal Green Cemetery in the west of the city. Founded as the General Cemetery of All Souls by barrister George Frederick Carden in 1833, Kensal Green was inspired by the garden-style cemetery of Pere-Lachaises in Paris. Comprised of 72 acres of beautiful grounds, it was not only the first commercial cemetery in London, but also the first of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden-style cemeteries established to house the dead of an ever-increasing population. Campaigners for burial reform were in favour of “detached cemeteries for the metropolis” and in 1832 Parliament passed a bill that led to the formation of the General Cemetery Company to oversee appropriate measures and procedures concerning “the interment of the dead.” The company purchased land for the establishment of Kensal Green in 1831 and held a competition in order to select an appropriate designer. Among the prerequisites in the brief provided to entrants, we...
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Prom Night (1980)

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A group of high school friends who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate years before are targeted by a mysterious stalker at their senior prom. One of the first slasher films produced in the wake of the success of Halloween  (1978), Paul Lynch’s Prom Night strictly adheres to the now standard slasher blueprint, unfolding as a lean and moody potboiler. All the tropes, cliches and conventions are present and correct. Significant calendar date? Check. A group of hormonal teens for the body count? Check. A masked killer emerging to avenge a past misdeed? Check. Ineffectual authority figures? Check. A heroic final girl who will eventually defeat the killer? Check. Prom Night has it all, including Jamie Lee Curtis as its star! If there’s comfort in the familiar, then Prom Night is the goose down duvet of slasher films. The opening shot of an old, discarded mirror, reflecting the image of a creepy, abandoned building, conjures notions of the double, and ideas regardi...
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