User Reviews

SPOILER: Really enjoyed the first couple of episodes but I probably ruined the last few by randomly shouting at the TV 'Just do a DNA test'! It really did spoil it for me and it was so obvious and the writer should have seen that! The mother was clearly grieving for her missing child. This is Wales not 1855. SOMEBODY could have put her (and Matilda/Carys) out of their misery by doing a quick test. Bonkers! This show had so much promise but really was spoiled by that one flaw.

The beginning was intriguing. Could not wait till the next episode. Kept being intriguing, but got overlong to end up boring. I don't mind an "open" finish, but I would have liked to know if she was good or bad. Why did they do what they did? What was the relevance of the sheep? What happened to Hal, and so on, and so on. Far too many loose ends. Had I known how it ended, I would not have bothered. Do hope they don't make a series two. I won't be watching, that's for sure.

I was really looking forward to this show, so well done BBC for managing to create a trailer that somehow managed to garner interest in this cliched toss.

A superb show if you fancy six hours of watching a Topshop mannequin get wheeled around scenic Wales and a big old country house, making every appalling self-centred decision imaginable - set to one of the three 20-second loops of backing music used throughout the show.

Perhaps if the writers had put the same effort into devising an original plot, as wardrobe put into keeping the lead's fringe immaculately maintained, this could have been enjoyable.

As it stands the plot is derivative of (and not a nod to) many of the Hammer horrors I used to sit up and watch on BBC2 and C4 at 1am on a Friday night, back when there were only four TV channels. The plot is tried and tested; person returns to a big old house in a slightly isolated village with strange locals, because "something inside them" draws them to it. They then make every bad decision imaginable until they end up on an altar surrounded by aforementioned locals who transpire to be Satanists or similar - essentially every Hammer film made between 1960-1970. The only difference is a remarkable twist where the possession of the lead by some otherworldly entity, isn't actually halted at the last minute.

While the cast is excellent, so few of the characters are likeable that it's a struggle to make it through all six episodes. If you're already part way through and unsure whether it's worth watching the rest; it isn't.

This started with such promise and by the end of the first episode you know who Matilda is but want to know the hows and whys. The story starts to drag in the middle and I had to fast forward through parts of the final two. Unfortunately Matilda is single minded in pursuit of her history and causes pain to everyone she's meets including her only friend, a child and a woman with mental health issues. I really wanted to kick her up the backside. As for that ending? Seriously? It was so obvious what would happen and they even went for the cliched "reveal". Ugh But why four graves? Is it a mystery or a continuity error?

Highly Recommended.. Gothic Horror. Occult. Folk Horror.

A lot of the reviews on IMDB were negative. I guess they didn't get it, and have no appreciation for Gothic Horror or Folk Horror. It takes place in Wales, and the series captures the magic of the mountains, and the weirdness of the "folk." References to John Dee, and occult rituals. Cast from "Home Fires" and "Downton Abbey." I was engrossed in it this week. Definitely creepy and interesting. Great performance (again) by Lydia Wilson - she's one to look out for. It's a great addition to the Gothic cannon.

(P.S. I wonder if the negative reviews are from Illuminati operatives. jk. Not really)

I couldn't disagree more with those reviews that are giving this 1s and 2s. I know it employed a large number of cliches that are typical of the genre but that is hardly a reason to rate it so poorly. Almost every slasher horror is laden with cliches and actually I didn't think this drama was at all obvious. It wasn't easy to spot who the real protagonists were until at least episode 4 and even then - right up to the end - it kept you guessing about the truthfullness of some of the main characters. I don't think there were many stupid 'don't go down in the cellar' moments so favoured of many horror films. Matilda was a strong lead and acted well. I rarely doubted her motivation and seldom thought she took unnecessary chances - although i wouldn't have felt inclined to sleep in the house myself. As for the enigmatic ending I found it challenging. The fact that we were left being somewhat unsure of what Matilda would do in the future we were left in no doubt about what she had done - were we? I think it was well worth a 7 and a good binge watch.

The production values here are pretty good, and a lot of great cinematic choices have been borrowed from the great thriller/horror movies of the 70s. There is a really strong musical motif, lots of long shots and allowing of the camera to linger in places where the action isn't happening. The borrowing is well done and does the job of building a nice sense of suspense. Beyond the style there's probably only just enough substance to push it up to a seven for me. Other reviewers are right - there's nothing new in the plot. It's your bog standard summoning-of-spirits-through-the-innocence-of-children trope set in a creepy as heck house with lots of windy sounds, unexplained banging and a subterranean extension that looks suspiciously free of rising damp for a manor house in Wales. However the characters warm things up a bit with a script that doesn't try too hard and some sound acting, although Australian James Frecheville struggled a bit I thought with a role that required him to be dumber than a bag of hammers, and was, I think, intended to provide a small note of comic relief. Six hours is a lot of screen time and a 'thriller' is hardly going to be thrilling for each of the 360-odd minutes. For my money though each of the episodes did just enough to warrant moving onto the next. The ending isn't going to make everyone happy, although it attempts a lot harder than many other productions these days to provide some kind of resolution, although there are bunch of ends still loose when the credits role. Ultimately, like a like of thriller/horror, the ending is a lot less satisfying than the unravelling of the mystery to get there. I thought it was a brave attempt to do some good old fashioned film making within the 'new' context of television, and no-one embarrassed themselves. And I, for one, thought her fringe was awesome.

I enjoyed this series for the most part. It was spooky and atmospheric, well directed and acted. It's just the ending was disappointing and predictable. They really could've taken it in any number of directions instead of the lackluster one they took. Basically, the ending ruined the whole experience for me.

Don't watch this in the hope they may some resolution in the final episode, there isn't.

This six-part chiller opens with two suicides; a man jumps off the roof of a large house in Wales and a woman cuts her throat in front of Matilda, her adult daughter, in London. There is no obvious connection between the two people but Matilda's mother leavers her a box of photographs that include some of the man's house. They also include pictures of a woman whose daughter Carys has disappeared in 1994. Determined to discover why her mother left her the pictures she heads to Wales with her friend Hal. Here they meet the dead man's Australian nephew and are invited to stay at the large house; Matilda has a feeling that she has been there before. Haunted by strange dreams she soon starts to believe that she is in fact Carys! As the story progresses we learn more about what happened in the town and more about Matilda's forgotten past; there is also the possibility of a supernatural presence as Matilda knows things she couldn't know and others try to summon a supernatural being.

I found this to be a gripping series; the opening set-up got me intrigued and I liked how we gradually learn more about Matilda and what has happened and is happening to her. The setting is suitably creepy and it isn't too obvious which characters will turn out to be bad. It does feature plenty of horror clichés, which some viewers may find annoying, but many of these things have become clichés because they are effective. By the end most questions are answered although there are enough left open for a possible second series although I'm not certain more is really necessary... some ambiguity is good as it gives the viewer something to think about. The cast do a solid job; notably Lydia Wilson who dominates proceedings as the troubled Matilda. I liked the fact that the possibility of supernatural activity wasn't too obvious; even when it is raised it isn't immediately obvious if it is real, within the context of the series, or in the minds of certain characters. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody wanting an effective chiller; of course what gives one person the chills will be different to another... it certainly gave me goose bumps though.

This was a show that, as it unfolded, I found myself more and more interested to find out what happens next. At first, I had suspicions this was going to be a run of mill kidnapping/child abuse, bad people who are trying to cover it up, yada yada plot. And it sort of was but then it kept getting bigger and more complicated and I enjoyed attempting to piece things together. But sadly, it doesn't amount to much in the end.

They built everything into this big closing sequence that really felt visceral and otherworldly only to give a pretty lackluster explanation of a conclusion. I ended up feeling almost cheated. It reminded me of those horror movies that have the stupid twist endings where the villain is somehow still alive after being thrown off a cliff (or whatever: insert horrific death). Matilda is told she will "have all the answers" if she follows through with what they want. The viewer is excited! We get answers. Well... there were pretty much no answers. And I for one, am disappointed. It developed really well until then, but the ending dropped the ball.