Review: Ghost in the Water
DVD: Ghost in the Water (1982)
First aired on the BBC at 5:40pm on New Years Eve 1982, the broadcast time alone will give you an idea of the target audience of this innocuous chiller.
Teresa (Judith Allchurch) and David (Ian Stevens) are 14 year old history fanatics who like to spend their evenings looking at the inscriptions on gravestones. During a History society meeting, Teresa mentions that she has a piece of embroidered cloth at home that is signed by someone called Abigail Parkes. David has seen this name on a gravestone and they investigate further. This leads them to discover that not only did Abigail die under mysterious circumstances, but also that Teresa is a direct descendant of her. As the tangle of clues unfurl, the ties to her family get deeper and more lives at put at risk.
The performances from the leads is often more horrifying than the story that is being told, but the time and location in which Ghost in the Water was filmed gives it a certain charm…I enjoyed seeing my 1st 2 cars onscreen…a Morris Marina and a MKIII Escort. Though having said that, it is a slight indicator of how my attention occasionally meandered from the main onscreen action, despite the relatively short running time of under 60 minutes.
With a 4:3 ratio, grainy picture and showing life from 35+ years ago, this may well only appeal to a niche audience who remembers that time and similar children television programmes fondly. Younger viewers, who have been raised on far more technologically advanced viewing may well only appreciate it as a curiosity piece.
Accompanied by a short clip from Blue Peter before its original airing, this is a nice little trip down memory lane for children of the 60’s and 70’s. Millennials may well approach with caution.
Ghost in the Water is released on 5th February 2018 and you can buy it by clicking HERE. ALL money raised by purchasing from Amazon via our website is given back to our listeners and followers in upcoming competition prizes. The more people buy, the bigger our prizes.
Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Simply Media.
