The Haunting of Radcliffe House Review

3 stars for this chilling supernatural tale.

The Haunting of Radcliffe House (also known as Altar) is written and directed by Nick Willing (Close Your Eyes, Photographing Fairies) and made in association with Screen Yorkshire. It is filmed on location in Yorkshire, up on the moors, a true British film through and through.

Meg Hamilton (Olivia Williams – The Sixth Sense, An Education), an interior designer and decorator and her artist husband Alec Hamilton (Matthew Modine – Girl In Progress, The Dark Knight Rises) move to a remote ex Bed and Breakfast called Radcliffe House on the Yorkshire Moors with their two children, Penny (Antonia Clarke – Les Miserables) and Harper (Adam Thomas Wright – The Physician).

Meg has been hired by the wealthy American owner of the property to restore it to its former glory and live on site with her family during the work. She sets up an office and Alec is delighted to discover that there is an old artists studio there, with perfect light for him to get on with his sculptures.

Meg and Alec spot a skylight through a window and after some furniture removal, discover a nailed shut door which they pry open to find a room hidden on the other side. Pulling up layers and layers of carpets, rugs and wooden planks reveals a sinister mosaic on the floor. Upon speaking to the locals, Meg finds out that local rumour has it that Radcliffe originally built the property to be some sort of temple.

Things go somewhat downhill from there. Alec develops an unhealthy obsession with his own blood, sculpting an unknown woman and lubricating the clay with his blood, and Penny and Meg both begin to experience ghostly happenings, seeing a woman in a white gown, who seems to be trying to convey a message. It is up to Meg to strive to find out what happened at Radcliffe House in the past in order to prevent it from being repeated and save her family from whatever forces are at play.

The Haunting Of Radcliffe House is a good example of the genre, enjoyable to watch with plenty of tension and jump moments. There is also some interesting use of camera shots and blurring to convey an otherworldly feel, which works pretty well.

The acting performances are also very good, with everyone throwing themselves into the spirit of things and there is plenty of atmosphere, especially the scenes actually filmed on the moors.

It’s not a classic and never will be but it would certainly make a satisfying addition to your horror DVD collection.