Too many fans seem to be blown away

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Am I Missing Something?

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Made by the BBC in 2006 this is a classic tale from legendary ghost story writer M.R. James. Professor Anderson is an ecclesiastical scholar and historian from Oxford University. He has come to a rural Cathedral town to examine the authenticity and worth of the Cathedral's papers and that of some recent finds.He is staying at a very old Hotel with wood panelling, beams some interesting guests and night noises that always seem to emanate from the next room. Then he discovers that the town has a secret past in which one very unpopular Bishop was accused of being in league with Satan and operating from a particular house. He finds it intriguing but hardly anything to be taken seriously – or so he thinks...Now this is just creepy enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It uses noise and shadows to conjure up the requisite fear and is done so in a way that belies the less than subtle approach. Still I much prefer techniques like this than modern slasher or scream ones that seem to be so popular. The period detail and acting is all top notch and I wish we still made them like this – completely recommended.

M.R. James is considered the best ghost short-story teller of all so that all it takes to tell an effective tale is to follow the source and that's just what is done here. Period detail, interior sets, costumes and language are all intact here in this spooky teller of the mysterious room 13 in a small hotel the dark secret behind which flares up into life when an innocent ecclesiastical scholar comes across a secret note in his research. The other-worldly effects aren't overdone, with no great special effects employed to convey the other-worldly visitation, merely some shadow-play, lighting effects and off- camera sound effects, but this is in keeping with the general, unspectacular tenor of the piece, saving the viewer's imagination to do its own work, which is as it should be. My only carp with the story is that in the end-up three parties enter the foreboding Room 13 at once, when any horror scholar will tell you that this should be done by one party acting alone. All of the acting was solid and without histrionics and the neat twist at the end which explained the sudden disappearance of a previous scholar at the same hotel was a good finishing touch.

As a big M.R James fan I am slighty worried about the quality of the two resent BBC4 productions of his work. True it is about time the stories of M.R James were re-told but to be honest these attempts at horror are nothing more than second rate at best.They are not nearly dark enough for my liking the atmosphere is really non-existent and the ghosts are a real disappointment, I agree one shouldn't see much of the ghost in stories like this but what you do see has to live up to the picture one has in ones imagination and to be honest these weren't even close.So my advice to you is watch the Laurence Gordon Clark adaptations made in the 70's available through the BFI if you want to see the infinitely more terrifying versions.

BBC Four continue their excellent form in drama with an adaptation of this MR James short story. This was a Christmas treat that perhaps continues a new tradition for the channel's Christmas output, after last year's MR James adaptation 'View From A Hill'.'Number 13' was simple, pleasurable entertainment; delivered in 40 minutes of suspenseful storytelling. The story was simple, with he mystery coming from the fact that room 13 does not exist, but can be heard by Greg Wise, in the lead role.There was very little to 'Number 13'. It was a short and enjoyable Victorian ghost story, something that should be welcome as an annual fixture for BBC Four.