No-nonsense Meg (Olivia Williams) has been hired to renovate a sprawling, ramshackle Yorkshire mansion. Unfazed by the task at hand, her family are brought along to accompany her. Artistic Alec (Matthew Nodine), her partner is enthusiastic. Her two children are not.
Unhappy they may be, but Penny and Harper (Antonia Clarke and Adam Thomas Wright) are two likeable children, not prey to the poutings that define others of their age group in films such as this. The acting is great, but Director Nick Willing makes sure the property itself is the star. Sprawling and oppressive, it could never be anything other than a haunted house. Typecasting!
As events become spookier, if not entirely original, they also become confusing, and other characters are brought in to explain what's going on, including a brief turn from Steve Oram's Nigel the ghost hunter. Even then, many things remain unanswered. Some find that annoying. In this case, I am happy with the outcome - sometimes it's better not to know everything!
A recommended chiller. My score is 7 out of 10.