Reviews

This film isn't campy enough to be "Theatre of Blood" fun, and not titlating or weird enough to be "The Devils".

I know a little of Lovecraft - the unknowable, indescribable folk horror of sorts. But to say I'm a fan would be a lie. But I watched this as part of a horror club watch list and had enjoyed the BBC radio adaptation (radio was made for Lovedraft) so was keen to see this.

I knew horror films from the 70's could be something of an experience but this wasn't what I expected.

This really is poor, the acting is ok at best (put Vincent Price in the film and you have a camp classic, put Oliver Reed in the role and well... ahem). The acting is sadly so subtle it became dull and felt like everyone was just dailing it in. The pacing is bad - this happens over the space of a weekend - yet they never EVER change clothing. Whilst the motivation of Wilber is clear, it just wasn't compelling enough to be interesting. Nancy could have been anyone really and whilst it became clear why she was chosen it isn't clear how she was chosesn in the first place.

It also suffers from overly high sound levels. Maybe it was the way it was recorded and then played over modern equipement, but the soundtrack was very loud (and not very good) and it felt like the foley team were getting overly enthusiastic with their work. Although "props" to the theremin player - they really got their time to shine.

I'm not sure if people would have found this scary back in 1970 to be fair. If you are an avid fan of Lovecraft and have to tick off all the films - sure watch this. If you are looking for films that captured the insane nature of folklore (1970's style) watch The Wickerman or The Devils; they are far better examples of how well it can be done.

Good for Netflix ..yes?!

What can I say that hasn't been said. This is a stunning production, made with love and passion for the source material - something you don't see much if these days. From the sets to the lighting, the puppets, and the voice acting. It's all there. What CGI there is is done to enhance the overall look not to replace anything

It takes a little time to get going, and I felt Rian was a little too weak at times. I would say also it's a little too on the nose regarding strong female characters. But that's it for criticisms, and to be fair a number of the female characters were flawed and did suffer the consequences their actions. I did find that refreshing, and this is a children's show at the end of the day so you can only get so complex.

Everything else is just fantastic, given this is a pre-qual I can see why they stopped where they did. What could they do that wouldn't seem like over milking it (after all what did they do to the Dark Crystal?) But I would love to see what they could do. I mean it clearly cost a lot and Netflix was undone by their "release them all at the same time" attitude.

I will be watching this again, one thing you can guarantee with a Jim Henson Creature Creations show is you can watch it five times and still see something new, it's that immersive!

This is simply not funny, and I don't understand what the hype is about.

The acting is fine but that's about the it. In a nutshell Wednesday is nothing but a typical Mary Sue, and her "attitude" is very annoying. What made Wednesday in the films funny was that she wasn't the only main character. Her whole family, even the house added to the quirkiness of it all. Making her one liners a spiky and a break from the more slapstick humour of the rest of the film. Also I got the impression she loved her family (in her own special way). Here she is just a petulant teenager (who for some reason is rude as hell yet people like her). She can do and fix anything... Snore. And her psychic abilities are really off putting (and probably taken from a mid 2000's cartoon adaptation) . If she can't/won't tell people their fate (fair enough I get that) then unless this is going to be some major plot device; why bother?

The casting of Gomez and Morticia were poor and have zero chemistry together. Gomez is just whiney, and Morticia was just flat as a pancake.

Whilst I think if it since when has this world been so magical? The point of the Addams story was they lived in the "normal" world and the fun was who thought who was weird the Addams or the "normies". Throwing Wednesday into this silly school with supernatural factions is unoriginal and again boring! Clearly the creators had no clear idea what they wanted to do with the character and it shows. School factions are really dated these days.

I haven't finished the series and I already worked out who is the main bad guy - can't we do better than this? Also this is so full of "now" politics. Werewolves with pink and blue hair...don't think I didn't spot that. Bees have no patriarchy... Gahhhh stop it ya killin me

I wanted to like this, and people kept telling me it's really good, but I can't see any of that. I abandoned this less than half way into episode two and won't be picking it back up again.

Not knowing much about how radar came about (although knew of the significance) and being a fan of Mr Izzard I was keen to watch this docu-drama. They were honest from the start saying this was based on true events, but the events you see have been made up for TV. Well, that's fine and fair enough.

But as soon as it started I felt my attention slip, Eddie Izzard was good, his accent went from Scottish to American can back again which I found funny. But he came across as a nice enough chap enthusiastic about his job. I didn't care much for his wife, and assumed that they didn't have children but lived that experience through his nephew?! That's when it hit me, if these things matter I clearly am not enjoying this programme.

I fast found myself confused by who everyone was, what became of the mole, or the guys who worked for him. I didn't care much about Robert's personal circumstances and was surprised he was surprised things didn't go according to plan. His team were good sorts, but I guess they all enlisted bar one?! I don't know I was out of the room at that time.

I understand the writers didn't really know how they got to a successful radar station, but the "eureka" moments were plain dull. I had hoped that Taffy was having a flash back from WW1 and was going to put them all in jeopardy. But no...

I wanted to like this, but it was just too dull, like boiled meat and potatoes. Shame for something so momentous and unsung. If you don't know about the birth of radar and don't want to be spoken at for an hour, this will give you all you need to know in a softer 1 ½ hours.

Well with two episodes to go I really am disappointed with this show. The trailers looked exciting, sexy and well... gripping. What have I seen instead? Stereotypes, lots of "terribly, terribly, awfully, awfully" speaking and contrived scenes.

I don't get why Stanley is so hell bent on pushing the Louis Lester Band (although it's more a one man show as the rest of the band are sidelined except the two singers). The larger of the two singers is just so wet I want to slap her around just to get some form of response that isn't "wide-eyed wonder". Jess - well just don't care what happens to her.

Where is the racism I was expecting to see? - sorry one mention of a couple on a boat wanting their cutlery changed, and seeing the same thing demonstrated in the dinner hall moments later, does not make for racial tensions.

Where is the jazz for that matter? A program about jazz should have more jazz music in it, not two full songs and a few snippets. I don't ask for much but there should be more music involved somewhere.

All the rejects from the Great Gatsby (sorry rest of the cast) are just annoying, pouty privileged spoilt brats who are ultimately forgettable.

There is only one character I want to know more about and that is the legend that is John Goodman - more of him and his rise to wealth please.

The story line is meant to be bringing Jazz to the old ballroom scene of London. While I don't know much about the history of London jazz I think it started a little earlier than 1932. The writing just seems stayed and pompous, I don't know about any of SP's work, but I am not sure I want to see other works by him. Don't get me wrong I love a slow burning thriller (Tinker Tailor TV series is as slow as it gets), but there is no "thrill" no tension, no drama - for a drama that's not good.

I don't think I am alone in thinking this, but there are just as many who love this show. Watch it for yourself, but don't expect to be knotted up with tension waiting for the next episode, instead sit back with a cold gin on ice and enjoy the costumes, scenery and lighting.

Interesting backlash on this adaptation, this is the trouble when you try and put the subtlety of words in to pictures. I thought it was a great adaptation; I read the book and was pleased they got the main themes in (all bar the third storyline). I remember reading the book and not liking Stephen much and I didn't like him much here either and that continuity was pleasing. Yes some of it failed to get going, I thought the scene with the old lady and her daughter in the book was much more fraught and tense. But you know what, that was me reading into the work, you can't really do that when you are watching it. The graphics were a real weak link, the CGI battlefields were pitiful, lots of emotion as usual a distinct lack of blood or pain! With the centenary of the First World War coming up I can imagine they are holding some of their war cards close to their chest, but they could have put a little more effort into that. I enjoyed the acting and what they conveyed in a short space of time. I would have liked to have seen more character development of the soldiers, but hay we can't have everything. In all I thought it was a worthy piece of drama, and to all those who go on about the oral sex scene being unrealistic. Are you all experts in early 20th Century sexual practises?

Having watched this film the other day and saw that people were still commenting I felt I'd like to add my ten pennith worth in.

Like a few people I really didn't get why this was a critics choice. It just goes to show how many poncy critics there are out there. Any film that starts with about 5 minutes of no script, nothing what so ever should strike you as "poncy". Now I'm all for hard hitting films, or films that make you think, the ones that aren't made for the mass populace. But this really isn't anything to write about.

Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor, but I felt he was just re-hashing his Gangs of New York role, but with a slightly smaller hat. I really didn't understand him at all. The leap he made from silver miner to oil miner was a "blink and miss it affair". Clearly the book held more insight that was "uninteresting" or "slowed the film down". Mind you it couldn't have been any slower if you tided its legs together and fed it a cocktail of dope and Valium.

I guess you could argue that DDL was a form of anti-hero, but it's a bit of a stretch. There was no real character development, you are just meant to follow and accept his decent in to madness and greed (not that you really saw any decent, he was just mad and greedy). Oh yeah there are other people around him somewhere, not too sure where I don't think any of them other than Eli and his brother had more than about 10 lines throughout the whole film. By the end you just didn't care what happened to any of them, but you would be surprised by the fact he was still alive at whatever age he was meant to be. I thought that at the start of the film he was in his mid 30's, but then by 1927 he would have been a very old man. There was no real sense of time in that way. One minute you're in 1901, then it's 1911 for what seems like 5 years and then your in 1927. Again the book must have large "unfilmable" chunks in it, but I'm not about to find out.

The soundtrack was the only thing of real note. I really liked it, but felt it belonged in some horror/stalk 'n' slash film.

This film really just goes to show how many bad films have been made of late when films like this are critically acclaimed. To me this is another "Ryan's Daughter" a long pointless film where nothing really happens and you don't really care either. You are just left wondering just what else you could have done with those few hours of your life you lost.