The Secret of Crickley Hall (TV Mini Series) Episode #1.1 (2012) User Reviews

Excellent start

[slightlymad22 · 8/10 · 12 October 2014]

Based on the novel of the same name by James Hurbet. Eve Caleigh (The awesome Surrane Jones) has a telepathic connection with her 5 year old son Cam though this is lost when he suddenly disappears. A year later,in line with husband Gabe's new job the family - daughters Cally and Loren - moves up country and into rented Crickley Hall,a grim mansion run as an orphanage in the 1940s by sadistic siblings Magda and Augustus Cribben. The story hops back in time to the 40's when a Young teacher Nancy Linnet (Olivia Cooke) was shocked by their religion-motivated cruelty but powerless to prevent it, and the present day as Eve and her family try to unlock the secrets to Crickley Hall.

Part 1 of the 3 part series gets off to an excellent start. Surrane Jones absolutely knocks it out of the park as does Olivia Cooke and young Maisie Williams as Jones's eldest daughter Loren, who has to put up with school bullies as well as ghosts. I first noticed Williams giving an excellent performance as Arya Stark in 'Game Of Thrones' and here she is again superb. I expect big things from this girl. David Warner is also worthy of note, giving a good performance too. I look forward to the next episode.

Beautiful, Atmospheric, Mysterious

[stratus_phere · 10/10 · 22 June 2018]

The first episode was excellent! This is a drama, mystery, ghost story. It takes places in an old haunted house in England.

I'm an American viewer. People in Britain can't understand how Americans feel about the wonderful old buildings you have. We don't have many places like this. Old buildings are few and very rare. A building dating back to the 1800s is almost unheard of in most parts of America. But to live in a country scattered with buildings dating back centuries, filled with so much history, is something Americans can only dream about.

I love horror movies, but what I love the most are atmospheric ghostly movies that take place in old houses, on ancient land with medieval buildings, stone walls, that sort of thing. We have some great American horror classics (Poltergeist, Exorcist, etc). But a movie about an old English house can only be done properly by people who live there. And they did this one very well...at least in the first episode so far.

The story is filled with drama, a family grieving over a missing child moves to an out of the way place in the north country. In Britain, saying "in the north" means rustic and far away. Houses have names, and a house name that ends with "hall" means it will be extra cool (old and creepy).

Looking forward to the next episode!

An amazing start.

[galaxyharvey · 10/10 · 15 January 2020]

Have just watched the first episode and this is shaping up to be a really creepy adaptation of the book. I can't wait to see how the next two episodes go. Surrane Jones and Tom Ellis really bring their characters to life.