This adaptation of Herbert’s Haunted (1988) belongs to a genre that has almost entirely out of date these days – the British ghost story. It is certainly a well mounted production with a decent budget and there are good performances, especially from a then unknown Kate Beckinsale who is a delight whenever she is on screen. But despite this, the film has a predictability and a dull sedateness. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert, previously best known for James Bond films such as You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). Gilbert seems more interested in the burgeoning romance between Aidan Quinn and Kate Beckinsale than he does in developing the ghost story. The scares that do appear – a gas lamp explosion, a fire that later appears not to have happened, salt that blows into the shape of a person – barely hold one’s interest. The casualness of the pace is infuriating. One can almost entirely prepared to dismiss it but at the very last moment, the film is transformed by a genuine left field surprise ending not unakin to The Sixth Sense (1999) that almost entirely makes the rest of it worthwhile.

It is of some surprise that Haunted managed to obtain a theatrical release at all. (Moreover, it was co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope production company). It is a film that belongs far more on video or television. It feels more like an episode of an anthology series spun out to feature length – it would have a greater cosiness and a greater succinctness if it had been conducted as a tv episode on the small screen. Unfortunately, as a theatrical film, it is so slow and old-fashioned that it is no surprise that it did no business at all.