"The Ice House" is a short film which serves as the eighth episode of the British

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anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television series '' A Ghost Story for Christmas'', and the final instalment of the original 1971-78 run. Written by John Bowen, who wrote the earlier instalment "

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James. It was published in his book ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904). Plot summary The tale tells the story of the Rev. Justin Somerton, a scholar of medieval histo ...

" (1974), produced by Rosemary Hill, and directed by Derek Lister, it first aired on BBC1 on 25 December 1975, only the second of the films to air on Christmas after " Lost Hearts" (1973). It stars

John Stride John Edward Stride (11 July 1936 – 20 April 2018) was an English actor best known for his television work in the 1970s. Stride was born in London, the son of Margaret (née Prescott) and Alfred Teneriffe Stride. He attended Alleyn's School, ...

as Paul, who has moved to a residential health spa in an old country house following his divorce. A number of disappearances cause him to suspect a strange flower growing near an old ice house and the behaviour of Clovis ( Geoffrey Burridge) and Jessica (Elizabeth Romilly), the siblings who run the spa. Like the previous year's " Stigma", "The Ice House" is an original, contemporary story in contrast with the period

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

adaptations which had previously been a hallmark of the series. This was at the insistence of Hill, who had taken over as producer in 1973, and the ambivalence of series creator Lawrence Gordon Clark to this direction caused him to leave following "Stigma", making "The Ice House" the only film in the original run not directed by him. The film is not well regarded, being the last in the series' original run before its cancellation, and barely a "ghost story" at all. Alex Davison, writing an essay for the BFI's 2012 release of the ghost stories states "Although "The Ice House" boasts some eerie scenes, it never quite recaptures the chills of Clark's set pieces" but notes it is "arguably the most daringly experimental film of the ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' series". The series would not return until "

A View from a Hill Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

" (2005) and it is the last episode to originally air on BBC1, as the revival has aired alternately on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

Cast

as Paul * Elizabeth Romilly as Jessica * Geoffrey Burridge as Clovis * David Beames as Bob * Gladys Spencer as Diamond Lady * Eirene Beck as Rosetti Lady * Sam Avent as Gentleman Guest * Dennis Jennings as Gentleman Guest * Ronald Mayer as Gentleman Guest

Home video

In 2012, to mark the 150th anniversary of M. R. James' birth, "The Ice House" was released on DVD by the BFI alongside " The Signalman" (1976) and " Stigma" (1977) in the same release, and the entire run of ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' from 1971-2010 was released in a DVD box set, which was updated the following year to include additional material. All three releases featured an essay on "The Ice House" by cinema curator Alex Davidson. In 2023 it was remastered in

2k resolution 2K resolution is a generic term for display devices or content having horizontal resolution of approximately 2,000 pixels. In the movie projection industry, Digital Cinema Initiatives is the dominant standard for 2K output and defines 2K resolut ...

by the BFI and released on Blu-ray alongside "

" (1974), " The Ash Tree" (1975), "The Signalman", "Stigma'", "

" (2005), and "

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" (2006) as ''Ghost Stories for Christmas - Volume 2''. This included Alex Davidson's essay and a newly-recorded commentary by critics Kim Newman and Sean Hogan.

References

External links

* BBC television dramas British ghost films 1978 horror films 1978 films A Ghost Story for Christmas 1970s British films {{1970s-horror-film-stub