The Haunting of Radcliffe House

Tashya Campbell Reviews: ‘The Haunting of Radcliffe House’.

A family of creative artists are travelling to a remote property, ‘Radcliffe House’ on the Yorkshire Moors. The mother Meg had been hired by an American banker to restore the house fully to its original state in six months. It is inferred that the other family members have had to make some big sacrifices for Meg to fulfil her dream project, but it is Meg who looks like she has had to make sacrifices because she looks so miserable.

The drama begins in the family car. The Dad makes a joke about seeing Heathcliff and Kathy from Wuthering Heights on the Moors, roaming about. Oh the irony……..mwahahahaha. You will see what I mean by the end of the dramatization. But for now the there is a light-heartedness in the car and the laugh about Dad’s joke which, for the people who watched this drama will agree comes back and takes a meaty chunk out of each and every one of the families buttocks.

The history of Radcliffe House is no secret and we learn from early on that Mr Radcliffe wan an alchemist and a landscape artist. Radcliffe used his knowledge of alchemy to poison his wife, Isabella. Radcliffe was so obsessed with his wife that he wanted to control her every move. Moreover he changes his style of work and started obsessively painting Isabella. We soon learn that Radcliffe ends up killing his wife and then killing himself.

Exploration

While the family separately explore the house Meg, the Mum happens upon a hidden door. The door is difficult to open so she gets help from Alex, the Dad. It proves to be a bit of a struggle to open but they finally get it open. Alec cuts his hand in the process but they triumph all the same. The room is a very odd shape, a bit like a pyramid. On the floor there is an ornate mosaic and as Alec is walking across the room blood drips from his hand and lands on the mosaic. The blood immediately gets soaked up by the mosaic. The story from this point takes an ominous turn.

Alec begins to act out of character and takes on a different persona. It is evident that he has become obsessed by the one and only, Mr Radcliffe. This is even more evident through his work. He is a sculptor at the time he arrived at Radcliffe House but now he has started to draw portraits. These are not just portraits of random people. They are portraits of his wife, or so she thinks.

Meg has short hair. However, the portraits have long hair. Meg immediately thinks these are portraits of her when she had long hair and gets all self-conscious. This could not be further from the truth because, these are portraits of Isabella who just so happens to look much like Meg. Alec is obsessed with the two women and cannot distinguish between the two women.

Two Children

Penny and Harley. Throughout this dramatization I am puzzled as to why Harley, the young boy is even in the drama. He does have a small part and this is when he disappears in the confines of the house. Yes you read right, his big moment is he disappears. Don’t worry he soon turns up but that is literally his fifteen minutes of fame.

Penny, the daughter has a much bigger part. She is haunted by Isabella and Penny is the first to see Isabella in a photograph that Meg had taken. There is an intense moment for Penny when Isabella visits her in her bedroom. This appearance induces an asthma attack. Meg cannot get to her daughter and makes a meal of breaking her daughter’s door down. This is shocking behaviour.

The Ghost Whisperer

Through all the mysterious and disturbing events Penny takes it upon herself to contact a Ghost Whisperer through social media, much to her Mum’s annoyance as she is worried about her reputation. Not the reasoning behind her daughter’s traumatic experiences. If this isn’t enough for the Mother to get annoyed the Ghost Whisperer turns up at the house. Meg shows her daughter that she is not best pleased about the Ghost Whisperer’s appearance and does nothing to hide her feelings in front of the gent. Penny reprimands her mother and she soon thaws and starts to give the man a tour of the house. Meg starts to tell the man about her work and shows him the fountain that she has restored and he has a premonition and sees Charles Kendrick Walker body face down in the fountain. Charles Kendrick Walker was a historian and died in 1845. Meg looks like she has seen a ghost, and literally she had. Only a few days previous to the Ghost Whisperer’s visit Charles had visited the house and spoke to Meg. Meg seems shaken by this.

Hidden Room, Mosaic and The Illuminati

This hidden room and mosaic floor seems to hold the key to all the mysterious happenings and there is a mention of the Illuminati, and this is something that should not be spoken about under any circumstances. Just like that club that Tyler Durden runs but I am not talking about it. The mosaic is apparently a map of your soul.

Blood

The use of blood in this drama is used in bad taste I feel. It had me reaching for the cushion and that is not usually like me. Alec uses blood from his cut hand as an oil substitute on Meg’s back. When Meg realizes this she is horrified and runs to the bathroom to wash it off. Alec runs after her and starts taking photographs of her. Alfred Hitchcock would be turning in his grave at this shower scene. This is not the last time you see Alec using his blood in a disturbing way. He mixes it with clay and makes a life size sculpture of Isabella which he places on the mosaic. In all his craziness he has completely lost his mind and has started calling Meg Isabella.

Finale, ‘Here comes the water’ (frank zappa)

Now Alec or should I say Radcliffe has replaced the sculpture with a drugged Meg. Just when you think it’s the end for Meg, with blood dripping on her head and Alec pacing the floor, it is all getting climatic. Meg wakes up and fights with Alec. She jumps out of the window onto the ledge just when you think her husband is going to follow her and jump to his death Penny comes in with the ‘Holy Water’ A weapon given to her by the Ghost Whisperer and Hallelujah it is all over.

The final scene is the family in the car driving away from Radcliffe House. The Children are sat looking relieved. Then here it is the big twist, the irony bit…… Meg starts clicking her fingers something Isabella was known for doing. The shock of Penny makes Alec look round at Meg. Then looks to Penny is in a state of pleading with her eyes for some sort of sense to come from her Dad. What Alec says next seals the fate of the children. He says, ‘It’s okay pet’ Penny can’t believe it………she is a real nightmare. Her Mum and Dad are now possessed by Mr and Mrs Radcliffe.

The idea of this drama was a good one but that was it. They had good actors but nowhere for them to take the story. The use of blood was awful and Meg looked weak on many levels. For something that gave me high expectations, it unfortunately left me extremely let down.

Review by- TASHYA CAMPBELL
Twitter: @fauvist72